深夜，年幼且失怙的林市目睹母親為了食物出賣身體，在遭親長斥責於宗祠時執刀自戕。孤女遂由叔嬸撫養，長成後林市聽從叔叔的意思，嫁給了遠村的屠夫江水。然而江水視妻子為洩慾工具、父權價值中的附屬品，殘暴的初夜與其後一碗帶肉的白飯，影射林市的身體與生存權，都掌握在江水手中。此後幾近虐待的婚姻、村莊裡的耳語、童年的記憶等，讓林市的精神漸漸崩潰，在江水沉睡時執起那把「殺豬」的屠刀「殺夫」……。

改編自李昂1983年獲《聯合報》中篇小說獎首獎的同名作品，《殺夫》在1984年上映，延續李昂早期作品對臺灣鄉土的關懷，並展現出原著對性、飢餓與權力關係的探討。當時的海報標語，切實呈現出1980年代臺灣社會對《殺夫》的觀感—一部議論紛紛的電影，一部令你震撼的作品—事實上，由於大膽的寫作策略，〈殺夫〉自連載報端、獲獎、出版，乃至於電影由吳念真編劇、曾壯祥執導，包含焦雄屏、井迎瑞擔任副導及由張照堂攝影等，均為一時之選。電影開拍前的改編、選角便已備受矚目，上映後亦獲得廣泛的關注，而隨著小說持續外譯，學界至今仍討論不輟。

Late at night, young fatherless Lin Shih witnesses her mother killing herself with a knifein the ancestral shrine as she is rebuked by the elder relatives for selling her body tosupport her daughter. Orphaned Lin Shih is then taken in by her uncle and his wife. When Lin Shih grows up, she obeys her uncle, marrying a butcher called Chiang-shui. It turns out that Chiang-shui treats Lin Shih merely as a tool for satisfying his sexual needs and a property he owns. The brutality Lin Shih suffers on the wedding night and the bowl of pork rice served afterward symbolize that Lin Shih's body and survival rights are controlled by Chiang-shui. Subsequently, the abusive marriage, the gossip circulating in the village and the childhood memories slowly drive Lin Shih to a nervous breakdown. One day while Chiang-shui is fast asleep, Lin Shih kills him with the knife that he uses to slaughter pigs.