Nakagawa spent his early career moving between various production companies – among them Toho in the pre-war years and China Film Company, Ltd. during the wartime period – before eventually settling at Shintoho after the war, where he made a string of stylized horror masterpieces for which he is now best known, including Ghost Story of Kasane Swamp (Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi, 1957), Mansion of the Ghost Cat (Borei kaibyo yashiki, 1958), and The Ghost Story of Yotsuya (Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan, 1959). Yet he was also a prolific director of program pictures who never allowed himself to be pigeon-holed by genre. Notable among his jidaigeki (period drama) works are Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki ("The New Tange Sazen: The Story of His One Eye," 1939) starring OKOCHI Denjiro; and The Idle Vassal: La Maison de Corail (Hatamoto taikutsu otoko: nazo no sango yashiki, 1962), on which KAINOSHO Tadaoto worked as costume designer. In addition to helming several women-led action films – including A Wicked Woman (Dokufu Takahashi Oden, 1958), Death Row Woman (Onna shikeishu no datsugoku, 1960), and Ohyaku, The Female Demon Part 2 (Yoen dokufu-den: hitokiri Okatsu, 1969) – he also demonstrated a talent for special effects, directing several episodes of tokusatsu TV drama series Ultraman Leo (1974). More than "just" a director of horror movies, Nakagawa was an accomplished practitioner of everything from exquisite shots to extravagant special effects who was active across a wide swathe of genres.

(Written by MIYAMOTO Noriaki / Translated by Adam Sutherland)