THE GHOST OF THE HUNCHBACK
(aka SATAN’S PIT)
(aka HOUSE OF TERRORS)
dir. Hajime Sato, 77 min, 1965

MONDAY, JULY 1 – 10 PM
THURSDAY, JULY 11 – 10 PM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, JULY 23 – 10 PM

A man, Chonin Mitake, dies crazy after long agony, and his dead body is cremated. His widow Yoshi, investigating on the past of her husband, goes to the mansion where he had lived, a building Leftly nicknamed “Satan’s Pit” (a suggestive statue of Satan is situated in the atrium of the masnion) managed by a hunchbacked caretaker. Soon some visitors reach the house. The hunchbacked keeper warns…

It’s unclear if this Japanese oddity has ever seen a proper US release, but it definitely never got one in Japan, only ever properly airing on Italian TV, in an Italian dub, adding to the overall surreality of the whole thing. Directed by Hajime Sato (GOKE: BODYSNATCHER FROM HELL, THE GOLDEN BAT) and starring Ko Nishimura (LADY SNOWBLOOD, HIGH AND LOW) as the hunchbacked caretaker, fans of early black + white Bava / Barbara Steele collaborations should take note.