It's unfortunate that manyhorror films that helped define the medium rarely get discussed today. Sure, any genre aficionado can bring up classics likePsycho orNosferatu, but countless other older movies inspired so many modern favorites; ones that revolutionized horror and paved the way for countless other terrifying stories —movies likeOnibaba. Directed byKaneto Shindofor the legendaryToho studios,this 1965 black-and-white film is credited as founding many elementsthat still exist in Japanese and American horror cinema today. Its ingenious approach to composition and sound editing is still utilized by modern filmmakers, and it's an early example of the type ofslow-burn fear that permeates so many psychological thrillers and horror films today.
Yet, while all of these are examples of this innovative movie's long-lasting influence,where it really thrives is inthe discussion of its central theme: survival. Not the bloody, conflict-driven forms of surviving some horrific antagonist that so many movies focus on, but rather the quietly depressing one that has historically filled the lives of so many individuals. While it still features the slashers and demons that people associate with this genre,Onibaba highlights the fears that live within us all. With its story of a woman just doing everything she can to not be alone and being punished horrifically for it,it created a kind of disturbing, deeply resonant terror that creators are still trying to replicate today.
'Onibaba' Changed Horror Forever
Whereas other horror movies may try to ease viewers into their fear,Onibaba does the opposite by showing viewers its protagonists' bloody job of killing and robbing soldiers only minutes into the film. Set in mid-14th century Japan,Onibaba focuses on an older woman (Nobuko Otowa) and a younger woman (Jitsuko Yoshimura) — they're never given names in the film —a mother and daughter-in-law forced into this gory profession as they struggle to survive the rampant poverty war has inflicted upon their country. They live methodically, lurking in the miles of tall grass that surround their hut, searching for deserting soldiers to stab to death and rob whatever meager supplies they had to survive on.
It's a quiet life that forces them to rely on one another, creating a melancholic sense of family that is disrupted when their son/husband's fellow soldier, Hachi (Kei Satō), arrives with devastating news:the sole man in their lives died trying to escape the war with him. With this news and this new person's arrival, the women's lives are thrown off balance, sending each down a spiral whose final outcome no one could have ever predicted.
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For horror fans used to more bombastic displays of fear, they'll be happy to know thatOnibaba's age doesn't mean it's missing the jaw-dropping terrors present in today's horror movies. In fact, they may even discover where some of their favorites drew inspiration from. But is alsoutilizes its black and white format in a way few other films could, using the long shadows and inherent eeriness of this washed-out presentation to not only emphasize the settings' desolate nature but bring out the monstrous nature of every person. This lack of color makes each nasty glare or malicious word hit that much harder as its drab nature reflects the unending bleakness our main cast is forced to live within. Yet for all of its surface scares,the movie's real horror lies withinits portrayal of loneliness.
'Onibaba' Is Remembered For Its Scares and Themes
So much ofOnibaba is centered around survival, but not in the way that most horror fans would expect. While the film does delve into carnage immediately with how these characters are forced to endure,the plot reiterates constantly how survival doesn't always mean living, and that even staying alive can be torture when you're forced to do it alone.Eventually, the older woman finds out that the younger woman and Hachi have begun an affair. This scene is followed by one in which the matriarch grabs herself sensually and mourns some unseen lover. She is remembering how it felt to have someone so close to her (both physically and emotionally) and is grappling with the fact that her sole companion has begun forming a bond with another —and what that might mean for them as a pair.
The thought of her losing the younger woman to Hachi drives her down an emotional spiral, with Otowa's impeccable acting bringing viewers into her complete terrorat the thought of fighting through this barebones existence completely alone. It's an instinctual fear that has driven humanity for all of its history, and with the woman's furious terror of it showing through in every scene, the movie makes fans understand why she decides to do what she does. The latter half ofOnibabais a whirlwind of shocking plot points that all play into the film's discussion of the cost of survival.
Every person in the film is desperate for companionship, unhappy with the lives they've managed to secure in such a lethal world unless they are ones that they can share with others around them. Yet, instead of approaching this concept with a sense of community, the film showcases the competitive nature of survival andhow even bonds with one another become a commodity in a world intent on ripping everything away from you.
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Onibaba's portrayal of the horrors of surviving a wartorn country is shocking to watch, and while the latter act does introduce supernatural elements, this only grounds the film inthe unnerving possibilities of a world where everyone is trying to "out-survive" one another.Onibaba is an exceptional movie for so many reasons, but when it comes to the intriguing, spine-tingling ways it shows viewers what true survival looks like, it's no wonder why it's solidified asone of the most influential horror films of all time.
Onibaba is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
