The Snow Woman

Tokuzō Tanaka's 1968 Japanese film is adapted from the folk legend of the Yuki-onna. Two sculptors caught in a snowstorm take shelter in a mountain hut; in the night a woman in white appears, kills the master and spares the young apprentice Yosaku. Her condition is single: he must never tell anyone what happened that night. Years later he marries a woman named Yuki and builds a happy life, and carrying the secret grows harder. The film builds its horror through waiting rather than sudden shocks, and the tension holds even though the viewer can guess the ending. The design, built on snow, silk and temple statues, is among the most careful work the Daiei studio did in this mode. The telling is quiet and measured. Who it's for: viewers who like Japanese ghost stories and classic horror. Who it's not for: anyone expecting fast horror; the film moves slowly.