Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Bug's House

One of the better entries in the Kazuo Umezu series. Umezu is a lauded horror writer so it's no surprise his work ended up as a source of inspiration to feed the wave of horror that was coming out of Japan around that time. Bug's House isn't the most overt horror of the bunch (expect something close to a Rampo story), but it's a fun and moody short from the hand of Kurosawa.

Koji is a little worried about the well-being of his wife, so he asks his mistress if she is willing to visit their house and check up on her. When Koji's mistress arrives she can't believe what she finds there. Koji's wife in her turn has been talking to one of her friends about the problems in her marriage, but she tells a very different story.

With Hidetoshi Nishijima in the lead you know the performances are nothing to worry about. The horror is a bit limited though, but as long as you expect more of a dark mystery you won't be too disappointed. It's a film that reminded me a little of Iwai's Undo but with a stronger genre twist. Good stuff from Kurosawa.