Horror with ghosts, as per J-horror tradition, directed by a young Kurosawa.
The film features typical J-horror themes and some aspects that Kurosawa will explore and delve into better later.
The now abandoned Mamiya villa, the place where the story will take place, is among weeds, branches and trees, therefore in a place where nature is taking its revenge on urbanisation, a duality often present in this type of film.
The beginning shows the shadows of lady Mamiya (villain of the film) and her son playing and in fact in the film the shadows in the villa will be alive.
J-horror cinema is full of remorse and feelings, lady Mamiya, like many other ghosts in this type of film, he projects his feelings to the extreme and, being responsible for the death of his son, he takes the children to the furnace to let his son play, so as not to let him be alone in his, lady's Mamiya, she is doing her duty as a mother.
Ghosts seen as traumas from the past which then reflect the protagonists are typical of these films, here it is interesting to note how the shadow of the ghost contrasts the electricity, even when Emi will turn on the projector and it will burn.
Electricity therefore in a certain sense is technology, modern society in contrast with the past.
Kurosawa is a director who will insert socio-political criticism into his films, in Sweet Home, even if not at the levels of his masterpieces, a slice of greedy society is shown, as the authorization to proceed with the production, filming, inside the villa is given only for mere business purposes without mentioning the curse but indeed playing on it.
The feelings and emotions of the characters, especially of the most central group of the film i.e. Kazuo, Emi (Kazuo's daughter) and Akiko will be connected through the actions of the ghosts.
Emi pushes to make to get her father engaged to Akiko because she misses her mother and this places her as an "easy" subject for the aims of Lady Mamiya's ghost. Here the sequences are beautiful where Emi follows the shadow of the hair on the ceiling and the wonderful scene on a red background when she is now "taken" by the ghost.
Kazuo is shown as good, correct but he is shy, he is unable to express feelings and this is why it is Akiko who first perceives the threat, despite not being a mother she seems to have more empathy towards lady Mamiya and it is no coincidence that she will be the protagonist in the final confrontation.
Staging and direction show excellent taste by Kurosawa, if it is true that one can notice a bit of acerbity and more references to 80s cinema rather than to the style that the director developed later, there is no shortage of well-executed impactful scenes and successful sequences.
Fascinating for example when Emi walks through the villa with the photograph on the greenery and the beam of red light that creates atmosphere.
The first appearance of the ghost through the possession preceded by the white sheet.
The sequence of shadow in the shape of a hand that chases the woman of the crew is beautiful and obviously impossible not to mention the sequence in red where Kazuo sees the corpses of the victims, staging and photography here are at great levels.
As written it is a film which, even if filmed at the end of the 80s, carries with it many influences from that cinema, so there is blood, unlike for example what the j-horror of the 2000s will be, there are well-made artisanal effects that always make nice to see.
Lady Mamiya's design, when it appears in the finale, is convincing and well done as are all the many artisanal effects.
Significant is the scene inside the furnace, the macabre place at the center of the film , where Akiko and Emi's hands tend to touch each other to recall the initial Chinese shadows between lady Mamiya and her son.
It is therefore a highly atmospheric film where, even if there are not yet the chilling long takes that will be the hallmark of director's factory, where the feeling of loneliness and crisis of the world is not yet strong, so much so that the ending is a happy ending, and where the direction is more "derivative" than an 80s cinema, however well done, Kurosawa shows talent, he shows he knows how to create atmosphere and knows how to give intensity, timing when the film requires it and many ideas.