Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters

Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters (Yokai Hyaku Monogtari) (1968)

Runtime: 79 minutes

Directed by: Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Starring: Shinobu Arai, Jun Fujimaki, Ryutaro Gomi, Jun Hamamura, Tatsuo Hanabu

From: Daiei

Spoiler: This has quite a bit less than 100 monsters. Yet that is alright as I understand the other two movies in this series from the late 60's-plus the 2005 Miike film The Great Yokai War are the ones that have more creatures. For years I've known that Japanese folklore has spirits and monsters known as yokai; they can look like animals but there are also critters that look like inanimate objects, which is why we get the incredible image of a sentient umbrella who has two arms, one leg, and at times a giant tongue that licks the mentally handicap adult it befriends. Ahhh, Japan... there is also a woman who has a Stretch Armstrong neck.

Much of this movie is actually drama which revolves around some evil D-bags that want to tear down a shrine and surrounding buildings so it can be replaced by a brothel. Some heroes attempt to stop this travesty from happening but the villains are effectively ruthless... except for when they fail to complete a ritual that will keep away the yokai. Those critters end up saving the day as they cause the bad guys to soil themselves with fright. Sure, an umbrella monster is lol and some of the monsters look straight from the world of Sid & Marty Krofft, but apparently the rest in this series were lighter in tone so there are some chilling moments, such as the haunting images of human beings w/o a face.

In the future I'll at least view the other two from the late 60's; for now this was an amusing diversion where the monster action was the true highlight and even if there should have been more of that, overall this was still fine.