Kaneto Shindô's Onibaba takes place in 14th Century Japan. The wife and mother of a fallen soldier have been driven by their horrible environment to killing traveling warriors and doing barter with their stolen goods with a merchant in the area. A deserter enters the picture and sexual tension between him and the daughter-in-law the jealousy of the mother-in-law build to a fever pitch. Onibaba means "grandma-monster" and the mother-in-law earns this title by using a scary mask to dissuade the daughter-in-law from the deserter, selfishly for her own benefit. Of course, her comeuppance occurs and the tension is never released until the credits roll. All in all an amazing, experimental (visually and with a distinctive soundtrack) film based on a Japanese myth.

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