Onibaba

The Criterion Collection

Deep within the wind-swept marshes of war-torn, medieval Japan, an impoverished mother and her daughter-in-law eke out a lonely, desperate existence. Forced to murder Lost Samurai and sell their belongings for grain, they dump the corpses down a deep, dark hole and live off of the meager spoils. When a bedraggled neighbor returns from the skirmishes, lust, jealousy, and rage threaten to destroy the trio's tenuous existence, before an ominous, ill-gotten demon mask seals their horrifying fate. Driven by primal emotions, dark eroticism, a frenzied score by Hikaru Hayashi, and stunning images both lyrical and macabre, Kanteo Shindo's chilling folk tale Onibaba is a singular cinematic experience.