I had previously heard about the 1964 Japanese film Onibaba, but only remembered to finally watch it when it was mentioned in “The Evolution of Horror” podcast’s series on folk horror. While not your average horror movie, it’s still an atmospheric wild ride that will likely appeal to both lovers of older dark cinema in general (thrillers, film noir, etc.) and of older, more slow-paced horror.
It’s the 1300s in Japan. There’s a civil war going on. An older woman and her daughter-in-law survive mostly by killing lost samurai and selling their armor and weapons for a few bags of millet. The setting is an otherworldly field of tall grass where they can hide in their barebones hut, and drag the soldiers’ bodies to an evil-looking pit. Eventually, a friend of the woman’s son returns, saying they were attacked in battle and the son has died. Distraught and lonely after the absence and death of her husband, the daughter-in-law begins a relationship with this friend. The older woman isn’t happy about it.
Despite the movie’s bleakness, it is captivating to watch. The score is weird, the grass (the movie was shot on location on a marsh in Japan) is filmed beautifully and used to great effect as a set piece. There are folk tale-ish aspects which keep things interesting, and all of the actors are very good.
