Demons (1971)

“Demons remains one of the most radical films ever made. Its daring techniques continue to astonish even today.” – Wael Khairy, RogerEbert.com

From pioneering experimental filmmaker and critic Toshio Matsumoto (Funeral Parade of Roses), Demons (a.k.a Shura) explores the decay of Edo-era samurai values and the human capacity for cruelty in inky monochrome.

Adapted from a 19th-century kabuki play, the film tells the relentlessly bleak tale of Gengobe, a ronin who descends into a hellish spiral of bloodshed and madness after falling prey to the schemes of a geisha and her husband. Matsumoto reinvents the chanbara genre, dismantling the samurai romanticism established by the likes of Akira Kurosawa’s epics, instead inverting the bushido code into one of betrayal, vengeance and carnage.

Blending elements of the traditional samurai genre with the jarring editing and experimental flourishes of the Japanese New Wave, Demons persists as one of the most radical, though often overlooked, samurai horror-dramas ever made.

Festival Appearances/Awards
Cannes Film Festival 1972 – Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight
Chicago International Film Festival 1972 – Official Selection
International Film Festival Rotterdam 1972 – Official Selection

Screening as part of FLESH//GHOST//MACHINE: Japanese Nightmares.