Deep within the lonely, windswept marshes of war-torn medieval Japan, an impoverished mother and her daughter-in-law eke out a desperate existence by murdering passing samurai and selling their belongings for gain. When a bedraggled young neighbour returns from the wars, he triggers an outburst of palpable sexual tension and deadly jealousy. Featuring some stunning widescreen black-and-white photography, a frenzied percussive soundtrack and a wonderfully claustrophobic atmosphere of impending doom, director Kaneto Shindô’s cult classic is a surprisingly complex assault on class and gender politics. It’s also a knockout horror thriller—angry, excessive and hypnotic.