The Criterion Collection

Faced with the demonic women of Kuroneko, DVD Town’s Christopher Long at first has only one thing to say: “Wow. And wow.” He does manage to gasp out a few more words in his review: “Kaneto Shindo’s ghost story establishes a mood that is the quintessence of the word ‘uncanny’ from the first scene, and maintains it over the course of an entire feature, a feat I have never seen accomplished before.” He praises the horror film as “taut and emotionally resonant,” and concludes, “Put simply, Kuroneko is one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen.”

In the Wall Street Journal, David Mermelstein is impressed by this “subtle and measured revenge tale” as well, citing its technical achievements: “Beyond Mr. Shindo’s delicately calibrated pacing and the unexpectedly abstract and balletic moments in the action, the film’s appeal owes much to Kiyomi Kuroda’s exquisitely silvery black-and-white widescreen cinematography and Hikaru Hayashi's evocative score.” And Mike Restaino of DVD File calls Kuroneko “a grisly, gorgeous motion picture” and “horror as tone poem, a symphonic, impressionistic tale of murder and cruelty that makes for a singular viewing experience.”