Vampire Moth (1956)

The story of a professional nude model stalked by a bizarre, unknown man wearing a hideous mask.

Vampire Moth is a 1956 Japanese film directed by Nobuo Nakagawa. The film has been described as the first Japanese vampire film, but in which the creature is revealed to be not supernatural, similar to The Cat and the Canary.

Vampire Moth aka Kyuketsuga was released in Japan on 11 April 1956 where it was distributed by Toho. As of 2008, any release of the film in the United States is undetermined.

There may not be any vampires, but there certainly are moths.

This is part of a series of movies about Kosuke Kindaichi, a famous fictional Japanese detective created by Seishi Yokomizo, a renowned mystery novelist.

The detective usually investigates mysteries with supernatural elements which, in the end, prove to have non-supernatural explanations in the Scooby Doo style.

Horror elements are here; the killer wears a scary mask with jagged teeth, and some of the scenes have a definite eerie quality to them. There’s a dance scene in which all we see are six pairs of legs when there are only five dancers in good health…

Sources:

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