Onibaba (1964)
Onibaba means literally, Hag, but the alternative title for this film is Demon Woman.
Two impoverished women live by killing and stealing from samurai who wonder into the tall reeds in the wetlands where they live. They strip the bodies, drag, and then drop them into a deep hole. The mother (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) live in a tiny shack.
The mother's son Kichi and a neighbor, Hachi (Kei Sato) were taken by the military to fight in the prolonged wars between two fighting Shoguns, so their farming has suffered, but they are able to survive selling off weapons, armor, and clothing of the dead.
One night, Hachi returns to their hut and tells them that he and their son had escaped the fighting but had been attacked while trying to steal food from some local farmers and Kichi was killed. The mother suspects that low-life Hachi may have even killed her son.
Now the two lonely (and horny) women have been eyeing Hachi, the daughter in-law especially. Hachi and the young widow have been secretly seeing each other. Even Kichi's mother would like to have sex with Hachi too, but she's too old for Hachi's taste.
Angry and jealous, Kichi's mother tries to trick her daughter in-law into not seeing Hachi anymore with tales of demons. The mother wears a Hannya Noh demon mask. Ironically, the Hannya mask is an embodiment of a obsessive, angry, jealous, and heartbroken female demon.
Directed and written by Kaneto Shindo, who based this on a Buddhist parable, did an excellent job. It's well photographed too, with the tall reeds bumping into each other. The only thing that I didn't like was the ending, which left you in the lurch. Other than that, I love this movie.
Onibaba means literally, Hag, but the alternative title for this film is Demon Woman.
Two impoverished women live by killing and stealing from samurai who wonder into the tall reeds in the wetlands where they live. They strip the bodies, drag, and then drop them into a deep hole. The mother (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) live in a tiny shack.
The mother's son Kichi and a neighbor, Hachi (Kei Sato) were taken by the military to fight in the prolonged wars between two fighting Shoguns, so their farming has suffered, but they are able to survive selling off weapons, armor, and clothing of the dead.
One night, Hachi returns to their hut and tells them that he and their son had escaped the fighting but had been attacked while trying to steal food from some local farmers and Kichi was killed. The mother suspects that low-life Hachi may have even killed her son.
Now the two lonely (and horny) women have been eyeing Hachi, the daughter in-law especially. Hachi and the young widow have been secretly seeing each other. Even Kichi's mother would like to have sex with Hachi too, but she's too old for Hachi's taste.
Angry and jealous, Kichi's mother tries to trick her daughter in-law into not seeing Hachi anymore with tales of demons. The mother wears a Hannya Noh demon mask. Ironically, the Hannya mask is an embodiment of a obsessive, angry, jealous, and heartbroken female demon.
Directed and written by Kaneto Shindo, who based this on a Buddhist parable, did an excellent job. It's well photographed too, with the tall reeds bumping into each other. The only thing that I didn't like was the ending, which left you in the lurch. Other than that, I love this movie.