In feudal Japan, killing a snake is bad luck, and ancient legends foretell a terrible curse that will befall anyone who brings harm to even a single serpent.  When Chobei Onuma, the wealthy landlord of a rural village, causes the death of a poor farmer living on his land, and then enslaves the man's wife and beautiful daughter, he receives such a curse from the dead man's spirit.  Madness and death await the Onuma family, proving that wealth and comfort are no protection from vengeful spirits bend on satisfying a death-grudge!