Yesterday I watched a 1965 Japanese horror movie titled “Onibaba”, which translates to “Devil Woman”. “Onibaba” was about two women (a mother and wife of a soldier) trying to survive in Japan during the war. The two would kill samurai soldiers who would wander into their field. They’d strip off the clothes, throw the bodies down a nearby hole, and sell the clothes for grain so that they could eat.
The younger of the two women falls in love with a soldier who escaped war and was living nearby. Jealous of the couple, the mother-in-law takes a demonic looking mask she stole from the body of a samurai, and that’s when things get interesting.
The whole movie was shot in an eerie texture of black and white, and the drums played throughout different points of the movie is haunting. It is all in Japanese, so it is subtitled in English. The demonic mask and the way it is presented is quite dramatic and it leaves an impression. Not bad, not bad. It’s just a shame that it took too long to get to the point of the movie.
Posted by evil-e on Sunday, July 8, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I have heard of this one and one day I will watch it. I like foreign films, especially horrors. I like to see how other cultures view the dark side and what they consider horror.
Posted by Zhu on Monday, July 9, 2007 at 1:36 am
Took too long to get to the point ? Mmmm… reminds me of French movies ! :D
Posted by MrManuel on Monday, July 9, 2007 at 3:02 am
Hey, that sounds like a pretty good movie. I have seen tons ot good Japanese films, but not this one.
Posted by Babybull40 on Monday, July 9, 2007 at 11:42 am
Sounds like an interesting movie.. Did you rent it?
Posted by Tara on Monday, July 9, 2007 at 1:30 pm
evil-e: Yes, some of the foreign horror movies can be effectively scary.
Zhu: Hehe..Good point! :)
MrManuel: I found this movie through Netflix. It was found in the horror genre, but I think in a subcategory for foreign horror. I had never heard of it either, but the description got me interested. Check it out!
Babybull: Yes, I rented it off of Netflix. I think it was under foreign horror, or a similar category.
Posted by Churlita on Monday, July 9, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Japanese movies can be so creepy and stay with you for so long. That’s why I like them for the most part.
Posted by dmarks on Monday, July 9, 2007 at 4:32 pm
My only exposure to Japanese cinema still remains the movies with giant rubber monsters.
Posted by k_sra on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Onibaba is on the Criterion COllection list. I’m impressed, Tara! I watched it about a year ago when I was trying to force some film knowledge into myself. I remember some wicked fight/scare sequences out in the waving tall grass, if I’m not mistaken. Eerie movie.