There have been some truly outstanding Toho movies over the years, and even when they aren't on point they still usually deliver something of value. Sadly that is not the case here, which begs the question whether Onibaba is the worst Toho film?
Merging their bleak, dark samurai epics with the horror genre should have yielded something quite special but alas not this time.
It tells the story of two women who live deep within a field of tall reeds. They make ends meet by killing samurais who wander from battle, looting their corpses and selling on what they find. One finds love in a neighbor while the other meddles with a mysterious masked samurai who has become lost.
Going in I really wanted to like this, not only did I want to like it but honestly I expected to. The premise looked solid, it's a Toho film and generally they handle horror really quite well, not to mention the extremely high IMDB rating.
So what went wrong? Sadly Onibaba is a boring, lifeless affair that comes across to me as being quite pointless. It doesn't really go anywhere, it plays out like reality television. Namely a camera is there but the people in front of it aren't exactly telling a story with a beginning a middle and an end.
Sorely disappointed, I expected so much more from this.
The Good:
Great setting
The Bad:
Ill fitting score
Very boring
Ultimately goes nowhere
Merging their bleak, dark samurai epics with the horror genre should have yielded something quite special but alas not this time.
It tells the story of two women who live deep within a field of tall reeds. They make ends meet by killing samurais who wander from battle, looting their corpses and selling on what they find. One finds love in a neighbor while the other meddles with a mysterious masked samurai who has become lost.
Going in I really wanted to like this, not only did I want to like it but honestly I expected to. The premise looked solid, it's a Toho film and generally they handle horror really quite well, not to mention the extremely high IMDB rating.
So what went wrong? Sadly Onibaba is a boring, lifeless affair that comes across to me as being quite pointless. It doesn't really go anywhere, it plays out like reality television. Namely a camera is there but the people in front of it aren't exactly telling a story with a beginning a middle and an end.
Sorely disappointed, I expected so much more from this.
The Good:
Great setting
The Bad:
Ill fitting score
Very boring
Ultimately goes nowhere