 Impecunious samurai Iemon and his conniving servant Naosuke commit multiple murders to secure the affections of two sisters, Iwa and Sode. Iemon soon tires of Iwa, and given the opportunity to marry a wealthy man s daughter, he removes the inconvenience of an existing wife by poisoning her and slashing to death the masseur he d bribed to seduce her. The two bodies are nailed to opposite sides of a shutter and sunk in a pool. Both victims  disfigured ghosts return to haunt the two murderers, leading them to further crimes and, ultimately, retribution.