Onibaba (1964)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Kaneto Shindô

Writer:

Kaneto Shindô (written by)

Release Date:

4 February 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

After being forcefully inducted as a soldier into war in 14th century Japan, his wife and mother remain living in a swamp...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Mask | Samurai | Swamp | Daughter In Law

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Nobuko Otowa	...	Kichi's Mother
Jitsuko Yoshimura	...	Kichi's Wife
Kei Sato	...	Hachi (as Kei Satô)
Jukichi Uno	...	Samurai General (as Jûkichi Uno)
Taiji Tonoyama	...	Ushi
Senshô Matsumoto	...	Runaway Warrior A
Kentaro Kaji	...	Runaway Warrior B (as Kentarô Kaji)
Hosui Araya	...	Ushi's Follower
Fudeko Tanaka	...	Old Woman
Michinori Yoshida	...	Samurai with Blood
Hiroyoshi Yamaguchi	...	Horse Riding Samurai A
Hiroshi Tanaka	...	Horse Riding Samurai B
Kanzô Uni	...	Horse Riding Samurai C
Nobuko Shimakage	...	Child

Also Known As:

Devil Woman
The Demon
The Hole
The Ogress
The Witch

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:105 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | UK:15 (video rating, uncut) (1994) | UK:(Banned) (1965-1968) | UK:X (original rating, cut version) (1968)

Company:

Kindai Eiga Kyokai

Trivia:

Initially refused a certificate in England by the BBFC in 1965, but resubmitted in 1968 where it was approved with an X classification albeit with some cuts.

Quotes:

Woman: I'm not a demon! I'm a human being!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Atman (1975)

Sexual tension run amok in feudal Japan

Set during a very dark time of war,where weapons and food are the items of barter due to their scarceness, which sees two different Emperors on the throne of Japan and Kyoto destroyed by fire….our story is that of a Mother and her Daughter–in-law who have been left on their own to fend for themselves while the son/husband of our main protagonists is away at war….The Mother and daughter duo take care of themselves by killing any stray Samurai/warrior that passes their way and stripping them of their armour and weapons which they then trade for millet from the unscrupulous Ushi. One night Hachi a neighbour who had been at war with the missing Husband/son arrives at their hut in a very bedraggled state and tells them of his untimely death.The women are distraught…..Hachi has made his intentions clear he wants the daughter-in-Law as his woman……The Mother afraid of being left alone warns the daughter off ……….The ensuing drama is a tale of their sexual tension in the high summer heat, which is exemplified by the swaying of the reeds/grass, the faster the reeds blow in the wind the higher the sexual tension .The mother plays on the fears of the daughter by telling her tales of Demons who prey on those who do wrong….the wrong being sex outside of marriage, but this is just a smokescreen as the mother throws herself at Hachi and asks him to sleep with her…Hachi refuses, this is the final straw for the mother.The mother meets a Samurai General who is lost in the reeds, she kills him and takes the very scary Demon mask which he wore and wears it herself each night to scare the daughter when the daughter sneaks out for her nightly fix of lust with Hachi. This a very technically proficient film, not really a horror film until arguably the films last quarter…..it has surprisingly a lot of nudity which is not intrusive but is put there by Shindo to show that nudity is not really an issue for someone who has to kill every day just to survive. Shindo also uses Black and White to stunning effect at a time when it was probably easier to film in colour……..this is not a horror masterpiece……This is a Cinematic Masterpiece!