Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2010

©Les Films Marceau

Fans of European horror films should head to Shinjuku Musashino-kan (3-27-10 Shinjuku; http://shinjuku.musashino-k.jp) to catch Spirits of the Dead (1968; pictured), playing from August 28. The omnibus film sees directors Federico Fellini, Louis Malle and Roger Vadim (in Italian, French and English respectively) each try their hand at adapting a story by the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, tied together by narration from Vincent Price.

Also in the vintage horror category, Shin-Bungeiza in Ikebukuro (3F, 1-43-5 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku; www.shin-bungeiza.com) will hold an all-night marathon of films based on stories by horror writer Edogawa Rampo, whose pen name was a play on Edgar Allan Poe. The lineup includes the campy Black Lizard (1968), starring current TV celeb Akihiro Maruyama as the leader of a gang of jewel thieves, and writer Yukio Mishima as a taxidermic specimen of “the perfect man.” The event takes place August 28.

The Hara Museum in Shinagawa (4-7-25 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku; www.haramuseum.or.jp) has kicked off its Blank Museum series of music and films that are designed to take advantage of the building’s unique, Bauhaus-inspired space. The “Blue Night” event on August 27 takes the bold step of showing Derek Jarman’s Blue (1993), which is a soundtrack of the director and friends reminiscing about his life and work accompanied by a static blue screen (Jarman had lost his eyesight due to AIDS-related complications). The screening will be followed by a performance by ambient musicians Keiichiro Shibuya and Etsuko Yakushimaru.

Unless noted, Japanese films screen without English subtitles. Non-English-language films are shown with Japanese subtitles only.