Demon Pond 4K UHD (1979) (Criterion Collection)

[MifuneFan]

Masahiro Shinoda's Demon Pond coming to 4K from Criterion in October! I got to see this film in theaters, and it was really great. It should look excellent in 4K.

https://www.criterion.com/films/33384-demon-pond

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

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.

[logboy]

L'Étang du Démon de Masahiro Shinoda : bande-annonce - YouTube

[DukeTogo84]

This year has proven to be very strong for Japanese cinema and glad Criterion gave us more than two releases this year. Hopefully many more to come.

[BluProofie]

Absolutely amazing release that I wasn’t expecting at all.

[bradnoyes]

Great news. I hope Hausu/House and The Ballad of Narayama aren't far behind.

[MifuneFan]

Artist Yuko Shimizu posted this great set of pictures of her process for her Demon Pond cover on her instagram, which I've combined into a collage of sorts below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-8nSpPv...en&img_index=1

New work for @criterioncollection Demon Pond DVD jacket art. It’s a cult classic eerie and sometimes campy but all and all beautiful Japanese film from the early 1980s. Directed by Masahiro Shinoda and starring the most beautiful kabuki actor of all time Bandō Tamasabrō

The coolest thing about working with Criterion Collection is that I get to watch some movies I totally missed watching till then. This was a treat!
Art directed by @ericskillman Thank you, as always, for bringing fun projects my way!

[u2popmofo]

Looks like Criterion shipped preorders yesterday.

[logboy]

... no UK release from anyone?

[dressedtokill]

Originally Posted by logboy

... no UK release from anyone?

Not at the moment, but I could definitely see it coming from Radiance at one point.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by logboy

... no UK release from anyone?

Originally Posted by dressedtokill

Not at the moment, but I could definitely see it coming from Radiance at one point.

Fran has mentioned that all Shochiku Shinoda films are off limits a few times on the discord. If anyone is going to release it in the UK its Criterion or no one.

Just watched my copy and here is a brief review.

Watched the Criterion release of Demon Pond and what an amazing release it is. 2024 was probably the year where I bought the least amount of new Criterion titles ever, but the ones I did buy made up for the lack of quantity with quality, including this film. I'm glad Criterion took a chance in not only releasing this on Blu-ray, but 4K.

The film itself almost feels like a dream. The first act is pretty straight forward and logical, but it goes a bit bananas in the second act and goes with a bonkers third act to end everything in a way you wouldn't expect, but not surprising either. After all these years, I still don't know what to quite make of the ending, but it's a beautiful ride getting to that point.

A man returning from his Summer break, decides to stop at a location called Demon Pond, in a village suffering from a drought. He finds his friend who has been "missing" for three years, who has taken upon himself to ring the village bell three times a day, otherwise a flood will come in and kill all 80,000 villagers. Throw in his mysterious wife, Yokai, some pretty cool practical effects, and crazy superstitious blood seeking villagers, and you have a recipe for something interesting.

PQ is top notch, although it does have a few blemishes here and there, couple of special features, and just wish they could have gotten a Shinoda interview. Overall, a great release, and hope it sells well enough so maybe we can get more Shinoda films including my faovrite Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Fran has mentioned that all Shochiku Shinoda films are off limits a few times on the discord. If anyone is going to release it in the UK its Criterion or no one.

not concerned about particular UK labels releasing this per se, just trying to deal with how high the price point can be for accessing USA criterion releases (B+N doesn't work for all UK buyers these days) versus UK releases (any) even if from criterion as they're almost a token gesture of an operation here with plenty OOP or not picked up. as things stand, i think ~£26 is where it will be, which is $33 before 20% VAT on top. it's a lot for one film, however good, and the compromise on quality to price is looking smarter the more the struggle to justify the business decision of 4K over BD is confirmed by the relative lack of availability on titles.

[u2popmofo]

I was getting bored with the second half of this film, then the last 10 minutes happened!

It's possible this is a massive upgrade compared to prior releases, but coming to this blind I'm a bit underwhelmed by the 4K transfer. I had to check both the disc and the player to make sure it was actually the 4K disc.

[bradnoyes]

There have been some blind buys in this format that I’ve been genuinely hesitant to watch because I so desperately hope that they’ll live up to my expectations based on what little I know of them. This is one such film and I am so pleased to say that after watching Demon Pond this evening that it may be the best movie I have ever seen in my life.

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

There have been some blind buys in this format that I’ve been genuinely hesitant to watch because I so desperately hope that they’ll live up to my expectations based on what little I know of them. This is one such film and I am so pleased to say that after watching Demon Pond this evening that it may be the best movie I have ever seen in my life.

Don't be so hasty...Caligula "ultimate cut" JUST got released....

[bradnoyes]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

Don't be so hasty...Caligula "ultimate cut" JUST got released....

It's no coincidence that both films were released in the same year. But do they both have a scene where a woman graciously offers to moisten a man's dry eyes with her breast milk?

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

It's no coincidence that both films were released in the same year. But do they both have a scene where a woman graciously offers to moisten a man's dry eyes with her breast milk?

Sounds like you're getting into Starve Acre territory where

[Show spoiler]a bereaved mother feeds a supernatural reconstituted spirit-zombie jackrabbit from her teat whilst cuddling with it. Not lying.

[bradnoyes]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

Sounds like you're getting into Starve Acre territory where

[Show spoiler]a bereaved mother feeds a supernatural reconstituted spirit-zombie jackrabbit from her teat whilst cuddling with it. Not lying.

Sounds great. All this talk reminds me of how desperately I want a UHD release of Crazy Lips.

[u2popmofo]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

There have been some blind buys in this format that I’ve been genuinely hesitant to watch because I so desperately hope that they’ll live up to my expectations based on what little I know of them. This is one such film and I am so pleased to say that after watching Demon Pond this evening that it may be the best movie I have ever seen in my life.

I've considered rewatching the last 10 minutes multiple times.

[bradnoyes]

Originally Posted by u2popmofo

I've considered rewatching the last 10 minutes multiple times.

I kept wondering if

[Show spoiler]the flood was going to happen, and if so, how could they possibly do it justice

. Well they definitely pulled it off. And then some.

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

I kept wondering if

[Show spoiler]the flood was going to happen, and if so, how could they possibly do it justice

. Well they definitely pulled it off. And then some.

Demon Pond proves unequivocally that talented practical effects, even from decades ago, can't be topped, and 80+% of CGI is largely cheap, cartoonish rubbish, to this day. Those scenes were executed with tremendous passion, skill, attention to detail, and an enormous amount of time and effort invested to make it look convincing, implementing a stunning array of custom micro-scale sets and clever camera techniques. It's a phenom all on its own.