Sinners of Hell (Jigoku)

New York premiere.

1960, 100 min., color, 35mm.  In Japanese with English subtitles.

Directed by Nobuo Nakagawa. Written by Nobuo Nakagawa and Ichiro Miyagawa. Cinematography by Mamoru Morita. Music by Chumei Watanabe. With Shigeru Amachi, Yoichi Numata, Torahiko Nakamura, Utako Mitsuya. Print courtesy of The Japan Foundation with permission from Kokusai Hoei.

A man is manipulated by his devilish friend to accidentally kill three people. The parents of a victim take their revenge and all of them end up in hell. Nobuo Nakagawa depicts hell according to the Japanese traditional narrative and visual arts, and dramatizes the destinies of the sinful souls and their salvation in an eye-poppingly kitschy style.