Masahiro Shinoda

Demon Pond

Demon Pond

Japanese New Wave renegade Masahiro Shinoda transforms a classic Kabuki tale with his own extravagant visual style in this dimension-shattering folk-horror fantasia. When a lone traveler (Tsutomu Yamazaki) stumbles upon a remote, drought-stricken village, he finds himself engulfed in a whirlpool of myth, mystery, and magic: in a nearby pond reside spirits who hold the fate of the town’s inhabitants—including lovers Akira (Go Kato) and Yuri (Kabuki legend Tamasaburo Bando, who also plays the ethereal princess reigning over the water)—in their hands. Set to the swirling strains of electronic-music pioneer Isao Tomita’s synth score, Demon Pond blends theatrical artifice with cinematic surrealism for an aquatic-apocalyptic fable of human love and folly caught in the current of nature’s wrath.

Film Info

  • Japan
  • 1979
  • 124 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • Japanese
  • Spine #1237

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Masahiro Shinoda and actor Tamasaburo Bando, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew
  • Program on the film’s special effects
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson

    New illustration by Yuko Shimizu

Purchase Options

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Masahiro Shinoda and actor Tamasaburo Bando, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew
  • Program on the film’s special effects
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson

    New illustration by Yuko Shimizu
Demon Pond
Cast
Tamasaburo Bando
Yuri/Yuki, the dragon princess
Go Kato
Akira Hagiwara
Tsutomu Yamazaki
Gakuen Yamasawa
Koji Nanbara
Priest Shikami
Yatsuko Tanami
Nurse
Norihei Miki
Catfish messenger
Fujio Tokita
Crab
Hisashi Igawa
Carp
Jun Hamamura
Yatabei, the bell keeper
Megumi Ishii
Camellia
Juro Kara
Denkichi
Toru Abe
Village leader
Shigeru Yazaki
Village teacher
Hatsuo Yamaya
The villager Yoju
Credits
Director
Masahiro Shinoda
Original story by
Kyoka Izumi
Screenplay by
Haruhiko Mimura
Screenplay by
Tsutomu Tamura
Cinematography by
Masao Kosugi
Cinematography by
Noritaka Sakamoto
Editing by
Zen Ikeda
Editing by
Noritaka Sakamoto
Art direction by
Setsu Asakura
Art direction by
Kiyoshi Awazu
Art direction by
Yutaka Yokoyama
Music by
Isao Tomita
Special effects by
Nobuo Yajima