Japan Onibaba ranks #3 among 61 Japan films released between 1963–1965.
Synopsis
鬼婆
“The most daring film import ever … from Japan!”
While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.
Audience Engagement
338 audience reviews — more than 91% of Japan films in our index.
Review volume (91th percentile) outruns trending popularity (65th) — a durable title with sustained audience attention.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Onibaba. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Horror + Drama in Japan
76 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Horror and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Onibaba itself).
Other Titles From Kindai Eiga Kyokai
The 1963–1965 Japan Window
Among 61 Japan films we catalog from this window, Onibaba places #3 — near the top of its class.
The 1960s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1960s in Japan, 202 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Onibaba premiered alongside 23 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 23 other Japan films in 1964.
The 205th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Onibaba, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- desertion · 4
- 14th century · 3
- hold-up robbery · 1
- bamboo hut · 1
- survival · 28
- jealousy · 24
- sengoku period · 14
- murder · 155
- samurai · 128
- demon · 45
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #891 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (81st percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.8 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Horror productions specifically: #4 of 391 (top 1%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Kindai Eiga Kyokai |
| Runtime | 1h 45m |
| Release Date | November 21, 1964 |
| IMDb | tt0058430 |