Adapted from a Buddhist morality tale, Onibaba – literally translated “demon woman” – never shocks, but rather haunts with the baleful atmosphere of its natural landscape. In fourteenth-century feudal Japan, the peasant wife and mother of a soldier have taken to slaying lost samurai for their valuables in order to survive. When a friend of the soldier arrives to report that the husband/son has been killed, what follows is a kind of escalating ethereal nightmare. Though the film borders the supernatural, the primary evil here emanates from unchecked human appetite and instinct.
—Scott Derrickson
Arts & Faith Lists:
2012 Top 25 Horror Films — #25