#41 Onibaba (1964)

Onibaba (English translation, Demon Hag) tells the story of two women who have been left to fend for themselves after all of the men in their region have gone to war.

There was less dialogue throughout the film than I expected and therefore, Onibaba relies heavily on the acting performances of the two female leads. They are both excellent, especially the older woman. I found the whole film was superbly acted.

The atmosphere during the film is terrific and shots of the long, swaying grass coupled with the eerie sound effects make for some very creepy scenes. In fact, the surroundings of this film create an enclosed, tense atmosphere which turn it into a stylised horror. It may be set in a vast field, but the way it's shot means that we rarely ever see more than a couple of feet in front of a character at any one time. This constant foray into the unknown gets more and more tense as the film progresses with the characters having more at stake.

Having never seen Onibaba before today, I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. It's clearly influenced many modern day horror films and it should definitely be seen. Whether foreign language films interest you or not, this is every bit a classic that shouldn't be ignored.