Kaitei Kara Kita Onna (1959)

While on a beach vacation, a young man falls in love with a beautiful woman who tells him that she lives by herself in the sea. That story is backed up by the village’s fishermen, who believe that she is the female partner of a shark that they had killed several years ago, now back for revenge.

This was directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara, who is best known for the film Anarctica, which was remade in America as Eight Below.

Oddly enough, Hisako Tsukuba, who plays the myserious sharkwoman, would do more than appear in several more Japanese films like The Golden Bat. That’s right, after changing her name to Chako van Leeuwen, she would produce Piranha, getting her name in the credits as a producer or executive producer for every sequel and remake. Maybe she really did know something about murder in the ocean.

I’d say that this is in many ways similar to Night Tide and The Witch Who Came from the Sea, but seen through Japanese eyes. It’d be fascinating to watch all three of these movies in a row.

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