“Onibaba” is a sinister film from Japan. It’s a pretty nightmarish piece but it’s very engaging considering how little actually happens. Interestingly, I feel the film could have worked even better if it were shorter and a little tighter or if it were a little longer and even more subtle.

Set in feudal Japan during a war, an elderly peasant woman (Nobuko Otowa “Epitome”) and her daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) survive by killing samurai and selling their items for food. The younger woman engages in a sexual relationship with their neighbour (Kei Satô “Harakiri”) so the old woman becomes increasingly bitter, fearing that she will be abandoned.

The film mainly focuses on the three main characters. I think they are all pretty good as they are all believably flawed individuals in a terrible situation. The war is raging and they are doing what they can to survive and fulfil their most basic urges, no matter what the consequences are. The interactions between the characters are rather fascinating at times. Later in the film, the old woman encounters a samurai wearing a strange mask. The mask is the iconic image from this movie. Maybe the movie could have been improved by having the masked samurai appear in it for longer as his scenes do feel a little rushed.

“Onibaba” is an unsettling picture the achieves a lot with very little. For a film from the 1960s, there is quite a lot of nudity and it’s very violent (it’s not graphic violence though). The film could have worked had they cut out some of the scenes in the first half but it could have also have been improved by adding more to the second half. Either way, I think that as it is, it’s not quite as satisfying as it could be. I think it’s still a great movie and worth checking out.