Story: Head of the wealthy Inugami family dies, leaving behind him a troublesome last will: a young girl, who is not part of the family, is the sole beneficiary, under one condition. She has to marry one of his three grandsons. Only if this is not accomplished, his estate would be divided among his relatives. Of course they start fighting over the will. At the same time, detective Kindaichi comes to investigate the death of a man who rang the bell of warning (having seen the will he predicted trouble, and was the first to meet it - in the shape of poison). A string of murders ensues, accompanied by twists, unexpected revelations and ghosts of past misdeeds.

Review: THE INUGAMI FAMILY is based on a novel by Seishi Yokomizo, which is part of a series of works detailing the investigations by the private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. This popular series had many screen adaptations, and this particular title was already filmed in 1954 by Kunio Watanabe (SECRET OF INUGAMI: THE DEVIL IS DANCING). However, none of the previous (or later) Kindaichi films were anywhere near successful as Ichikawa's title, which still holds the No. 1 place as Japan's all-time greatest box-office success. Strangely, THE INUGAMI FAMILY is not so well known in the West, and as of this writing it is still unavailable in R1 DVD. That's why you have KFCC: to draw your attention to this worthy title!

The Kindaichi series revolves around the gruffy, slightly eccentric detective, played very well by Koji Ishizaka (whom some compare to a Japanese version of Peter Falk's inspector Columbo) and mysteries that he's trying to solve. Obviously, these novels (and the movies based on them) first and foremost belong to the detective fiction/film, but all of them have very strong elements of horror. In some cases the culprits seem to be of supernatural origin (a werewolf, a ghost...) but are always revealed to be of human origin, and thus all these works belong to the subgenre of the 'explained supernatural', with the usual moral: homo homini lupus est!

In the case of THE INUGAMI FAMILY, elements of horror include such visual motifs as: a man with a spooky white mask which hides a disfigured face; gruesome murders; isolated setting, spooky corridors, abandoned buildings, etc. Director Kon Ichikawa creates a convincing setting in which twists and turns are quite expectable, but not predictable. A veteran's touch is felt in every scene: after all, it comes from a man responsible for such classics of Japanese cinema as THE PUNISHMENT ROOM (1956), THE BURMESE HARP (1956), THE HOLE (1957), CONFLAGRATION (1958), FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959), THE KEY (1959), THE OUTCAST (1962), AN ACTOR'S REVENGE (1963)… Thus it's no wonder his film oozes with adult overtones, and is equal parts drama, crime-thriller and horror. Ichikawa approaches his material with a seriousness which by far surpasses this genre (usually closer to the merits of Agatha Christie's TV adaptations).

The characters and their motivations are well-developed. They are not just stock-devices from some pulp-detective novel but are treated more as elements of a classical Greek tragedy. There is even some telling subtext, as the troubled Inugamis in many ways mirror Japan itself: losing their tradition 'thanks to' industry they become rich through questionable proceedings (making drugs for the Japanese army) but are shaken and faced by their dark side when a scarred war vet comes back home... Ichikawa's direction is mostly inobtrusive, serving the purpose of moving the convoluted plot smoothly from one point to the next. His framing is impeccable and makes the most out of beautiful sets of the millionaire's mansion and the woods and lake in its vicinity. His sense of timing and movement is matchless, as evidenced by at least two memorable body-discovery scenes: in both cases the set-piece is worthy in itself but is further strenghtened by the camera movement and editing which throws you face-to-face with the decapitated head poised on a mannequin or, even more effectively in a later scene, right at the staring eyes of a dead man's body beyond the attic window.

There are also some stylish flashbacks in over-exposed black-and-white which together with a well developed intrigue, interesting characters and constant eye-candy will keep you glued to the screen in spite of the quite demanding running time of two and a half hours. The number of participants (and their true/false identities and motivations) in the plot may be a bit demanding for the viewer, but care and investment in the film will pay off nicely!

Ichikawa directed three more films based on Yokomizo's Kindaichi detective in a quick succession: GUILLOTINE ISLAND aka ISLAND OF HELL (1977), THE DEVIL'S BALLAD (1977), QUEEN BEE (1978). He even scripted them (under the pseudonym Kurisutei, an obvious homage to Agatha Christie), and all of them are worth catching, but none managed to match his first outing with this material. In 2006 the 90-year-old director remade his popular tale to celebrate its 30th anniversary (Inugamike no ichizoku aka MURDER OF THE INUGAMI CLAN).