Kuroneko(1968)
1968 · Kaneto Shindō · 100 min
In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost.
Drama · Fantasy · Horror
7.4237 votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How Kuroneko scares
Kuroneko moves like a dream, all mist, shadows, and slow, deliberate movement through a bamboo forest that feels both beautiful and wrong. The scares come from atmosphere and strange ritualized behavior rather than shocks, with figures gliding and leaping in unnatural ways that get under your skin instead of making you jump. There's real sorrow woven into the dread, since the haunting is tied to grief and injustice, which gives it a heavier, sadder feeling than a typical ghost story. It's best for people who like their horror slow, eerie, and visually striking rather than jumpy or gory.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Kuroneko rates psychological 5/5, visceral 2/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 5 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 10 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 10 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 65 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, eerie mood piece with a haunting rhythm of calm and sudden dread that gradually tightens toward an emotionally intense final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3.
How scary is Kuroneko?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Kuroneko rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be moderately gory and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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