The Haunted Castle (Hiroku kaibyô-den)

When a young woman’s brother is killed by an evil warlord, she seeks revenge. She invokes a supernatural cat spirit with her own spilled blood to kill her enemies. The cat drinks the blood and all hell comes down on the warlord’s castle. This is an excellent horror film…

David Whitman

I can’t say that I agree with the concept of getting a house cat to drink human blood so it can give up its cat life and become a vengeance demon. But then, having a bakeneko (changed cat) cinematic universe to keep discovering films in, is something I adore. And so, needs…

Lexzilla

Ghost Revenge Movies Haunted Castle is genuinely creepy/haunting and it's filled with loads of atmosphere. It looks very pretty too. Big thanks to SexgunSukeban for making me aware of this one. Follow this guy, he's got excellent taste in (Asian) movies.

Lou (doesn't rhyme with booh! 👻)

Very solid Bakeneko from director Tokuzō Tanaka. The man still hasn’t disappointing me yet. Good pacing (under 90 minutes), creepy atmosphere, appealing visuals, some good kills and the characters and story were engaging enough to keep me invested. I really don’t have much…

Gregor Kreyca

I didn’t really have any idea of what to say for this review, then I found out that Cronos, the frontman of pioneering first wave black metal band, Venom, was finally called back to Hell today (October 1st, 2026) and it all became perfectly clear. This film is some of the…

JeanRollinGiallo

We have some literal crazy-cat-lady-from-hell action in this fantastically fun and creepy spook-fest as a black cat is given supernatural powers and sent on a mission of revenge against a murderous nobleman and his household. It takes a little while to get the initial…

Lee

A richly atmospheric entry in Japan’s long tradition of bakeneko cinema, the premise is classic folklore: a blind monk is murdered after refusing to surrender his daughter as a concubine, and a vengeful cat spirit rises in his stead, morphing into a supernatural slasher…

Mark Costello

That atmosphere, baby! Such a committed telling of a classic black cat tale and the spirit of vengeance that wreaks havoc in a perpetual darkness, bouncing about bodies like an Evil Dead malediction as makeup effects and shadows mesh like bread and oh-so-rich butter—so…

Corey

The most visually exciting horror discovery I’ve had in awhile. Such specific image control and vibrancy that creates this wicked feeling of atmospheric horror. Terrific horror performance full of supernatural magnetism from Ikuko Mori.  Unlocks a whole new sub genre for…

Alexei Toliopoulos