Legends of the Poisonous Seductress: Vol One: Female Demon Ohyaku (1968)

The first Poisonous Seductress film is the only one of the trilogy to be shot in black and white. It begins as tragedy and continues on the same path. It's the story of Ohyaku, a strong female that may be beaten physically but is never beaten emotionally or spiritually.
It's often cited as being one of the first ever Pinky Violence films, and while it's clear to see why that is, it's not as gratuitous or as purposefully titillating as most subsequent exploitation was. Each violent act is earned by the recipient's own evil deeds. Even so, Ohyaku's final, sadistic moment of revenge is shocking stuff, especially for 1968.

3½ dangerous bridges out of 5

The Ghost Cat of Otama Pond (1960)

Ghost Cat is creaky in places, but it appears to have made the best of what it had to work with. What kept my interest mostly was the red and green lighting similar to what Hitchcock was doing around the same era, the excellent music and the inventive layering. A more substantial depth of field would've improved it greatly. However, lenses cost money and it’s clearly a low budget affair. It’s not a perfect film, but it’s culturally fascinating.
The seizure-inducing editing at the end was perhaps a mistake. It feels out of place with the slow building eeriness of the rest of the picture.

2½ hairy hands out of 5