10 Great Shapeshifter Horror Movies You May Have Missed
3. Kuroneko
In Japanese mythology, an onryō is a type of vengeful spirit usually associated with women who suffered a tragedy whilst they were still alive. Another kind of ghost is a kaibyō, a kind of supernatural cat that can appear human.
Both of these are front and centre in Kaneto Shindō's 1968 work, Kuroneko, also known as "The Black Cat" in English.
Two women, Yone and her daughter-in-law Shige, die at the hands of a gang of rogue samurai, but are able to return to Earth with the ability to change their forms after their bodies were touched by a mysterious black cat. They use this new power to enact revenge on their murderers, attacking them like cats would by clawing at their faces and ripping their throats out with their teeth.
When the women's respective son and husband returns from war, having been made a samurai, the ghosts are forced to try and destroy him too.
Kuroneko is a fantastically eerie film with great themes of female empowerment and societial heirarchy running through it. Plus, the cats are really cute, which is also a bonus.