Jigoku (1960)

Country of Origin: Japan
Year of Production: 1960
Running Times: 101 mins
Format: Eastmancolor 35mm
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Shintoho Company Ltd
Producer: Mitsugu Okura, Sousuke Kasane, Nobuo Nakagawa (uncredited)

SCRIPT
Script: Nobuo Nakagawa, Ichirô Miyagawa

DIRECTION
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Mamoru Morita

MUSIC
Music: Michiaki Watanabe

SOUND
Sound System: Western Electric Recording

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Haruyasu Kurosawa

CAST
Shigeru Amachi (Shirou Shimizu)
Hiroshi Hayashi (Gouzou Shimizu)
Fumiko Miyata (Fumi Yajima)
Torahiko Nakamura (Professor Yajima)
Yoichi Numata (Tamura)
Jun Ootomo (Ensai Taniguchi)
Kimie Tokudaiji
Akiko Yamashita
Ukato Mitsuya (Sachiko Taniguchi)
Kanjuurou Arashi (Daiou Enma)
Kiyoko Tsuji
Tomohiko Ootani
Kouichi Miya
Hiroshi Shinguuji
Hiroshi Izumida (kyouichi Shiga)
Akiko Ono (Youko)
Sakutarou Yamakawa
Rei Ishikawa

A group of students wind up in hell after committing some appalling acts of murder. There they witness sights even more horrific than the crimes they have committed.

This extraordinary fantasy is Nobuo Nakagawa's greatest achievement. It's presented in three acts, with a different tone for each. The first section is an impressionistic but fairly straightforward narrative that establishes the protagonists and shows their involvement in a hit-and-run accident. The middle section is darkly comic satire, set in a retirement home portraying hell on earth, and climaxing with the extinction of the entire cast. The final section is a grueling, gruesome and graphic representation of the protagonists' sojourn in an otherworldly hell based more on Judaic-Christian than Buddhist concepts. At least 30 years ahead of its time, Jigoku brought the director's flourishing career to a standstill, as well as leaving him impoverished (he'd invested his own savings in the movie to complete it). Today, the film can be recognized as the forerunner to many of the best subsequent horror films made in Japan.
ROGER KEIGHTLEY

Japan
Theatrical Distributor: Shintoho
DVD Distributor: Beam Entertainment (BIBJ-1301)

1960
August
5: Japan - theatrical release

Inferno
Sinners of Hell

REMAKES
Jigoku (1979)
Jigoku (1981)

MAGAZINES

Psychotronic 16 pp.15-16 (USA)
review

BOOKS

Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (2nd edition) p.132
credits, review

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.232
credits

hell, demons, ghosts, torture, gore

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009