“In Onibaba Kaneto Shindo situates elements of horror within an historical context to illustrate the repercussions of a society (in this instance, feudal Japan) dominated by what he calls the ‘primitive beneath the civilized veneer.' Two women, who dwell in the reeds, eke out a minimal existence by luring wounded samurai to their deaths and selling the spoils of their macabre metier. When an amorous liaison between the daughter-in-law and a neighbor threatens the other woman's livelihood (without this partnership, her survival is dubious), the latter takes decisive action to prevent it.

“Donning a terrifying battle mask stripped from one of her victims, the old woman lurks in the marshes in a frenzied attempt to keep her young accomplice at home. Unable to remove the mask, the horrified woman is forced to reveal her ruse and begs the daughter-in-law to help free her. What follows is one of the most brutally terrifying sequences of the film. While maintaining a critical stance in his appraisal of feudal Japan, Shindo also evokes an eerie mood which enhances the horror of Onibaba, his first period piece.”