Masaki Kobayashi’s gorgeous and chilling tableaux of indelible images from Japanese folklore is best seen on the big screen. This 1964 anthology adapts four folk tales – one involves a social-climbing swordsman and a vengeful wife; another, a ghostly Snow Maiden who saves a man from a blizzard; a face in a cup of tea; and an earless samurai. But the plot is not the point – moreso the eerie characters and handpainted scenery that create a nightmarish fog that stays with you long after the almost three-hour runtime is over. – Lina Fisher
