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Onibaba (1964) – Episode 86 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“There is no telling what demons, snakes, and monsters live here in this grass.” Demons, monsters, and snakes, oh my! Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Whitney Collazo, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and listener guest host Nick Gadman – as they try to hide in the tall, thick, grass growing everywhere in Onibaba (1964).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 86 – Onibaba (1964)

Two women kill samurais and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.

IMDb

Kaneto Shindô’s Onibaba made a very big impression on your Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Grue-Crew. Nick picked this one and an excellent pick it is.He expounds on the two strong and well-developed, female characters that dominate the cast of Onibaba. Whitney echoes Nick’s fascination with the “Older Woman” and the “Younger Woman,” but focuses on their relationship, adding perspective from her cultural background. The quality and depth of Onibaba surprises and impresses Chad and he loves how a supernatural aspect enters the story. Jeff is impressed enough that he watched Kuroneko (1968), another of Kaneto Shindô’s and loved that as well. Of course, they can’t forget the mask, the one most horror fans recognize even if they haven’t seen Onibaba

It will be obvious that the Grue-Crew highly recommends Onibaba! In the U.S., as of this writing, the film is available to stream from HBOmax and The Criterion Channel or on DVD physical media from Criterion.

Chad, Whitney, and Jeff give a big Grue-Crew thank you to Nick Gadman for his extensive research and insightful contributions to this episode! 

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. The next episode in their very flexible schedule, chosen by their next super-secret guest host, will be The Innocents (1961), based on The Turn of the Screw (1898), the celebrated novella by Henry James that also provided the foundation for the recent Netflix miniseries, The Haunting of Bly Manor

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!

Jeff Mohr
Jeff lives smack dab in the middle of the cornfields of Iowa and is a long-time horror fan. His first remembered encounters with the genre were The Wizard of Oz, Tarzan gorilla chases, and watching the first broadcast of The Twilight Zone episode, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." While he now qualifies as an old fart, he strives to be an Old Boy. Paraphrasing Robert Bloch, he has the heart of a small boy. He keeps it in a jar on his desk. Jeff has written for Horrornews.net and SQ Horror Magazine. He currently writes for Gruesome Magazine and is a co-host of the Decades of Horror podcasts - The Classic Era, 1970s, and 1980s - and the Gruesome Magazine Podcast.