Emily Brontë’s Gothic romance is transposed to feudal Japan for a powerfully stark, elemental take on the story. The lush English moors are replaced by a harsh mountain setting almost lunar in its desolation. There, the wild-eyed orphan Onimaru (Yusaku Matsuda, an imposingly physical “Heathcliff”) exacts cruel revenge on the Yamabe clan after family tradition forces him to separate from his lover, Kinu (Yuko Tanaka, an ethereal “Cathy”). Director Yoshishige Yoshida conjures a savage world of expressionistic landscapes, spurting blood, and demonic spirits for a retelling that approaches primeval horror.