Above, two great posters for Daiei Film Company’s Yôkai hyaku monogatari, aka 100 Monsters. In the movie you get giants and faceless men and witches—i.e., things that are familiar to most cultures—but you also get some specifically Japanese weirdness like the rokurokubi, which can stretch its neck to extreme lengths (see below), and the karakasa oabake, which is a parasol that has come to life. Apparently, household items animating is a major part of Japanese folklore, and some of the objects that can haunt you include quilts, clocks, mirrors, gongs, sake jars, and sandals. That last one doesn’t surprise us, because we once had a roommate whose Crocs scared away any woman who saw them. Anyway, we gather this is more or less a kid’s movie, but to us it seems like one that would permanently warp anyone under the age of ten. For adults, it’s just amazing to watch so many people in rubber suits in one place at the same time. If you want to see the rokurokubi get all sassy with her sinuous neck, check here, and you can see the haunted parasol come to life here. Yôkai hyaku monogatari premiered in Japan today in 1968.
