Magia negra

Apparently inspired by a comic book, "Baba Yaga" is an unusually compelling, surreal nightmare of movie that also is vibrant with the essence of the late 1960s. The story follows pretty young fashion photographer Valentina (Isabelle De Funes) who runs afoul of seductive sorceress Baba Yaga (Carroll Baker) who proceeds to meddle in her life via a tiny doll in an S&M getup. Baba is not one to take rejection lightly, and subjects Valentina to physical and psychological torments. Well-made, hard-to-pigeonhole film, director Corrado Farina succeeds in creating moody atmosphere and a warped logic in which anything can and will happen. Funes in particular does a superb job of convincing the audience of the vacuum that's engulfing her; a young George Eastman ("Anthropophagous") fares well in the role of her disbelieving commercial-director boyfriend. The direction, which intercuts comic-book imagery with hallucinogenic dream sequences (which all seem to possess a Nazi angle), is skillful and unpretentious.

Baba Yaga is the story of Valentine, a photographer who photographs women(just one is model is used throughout the movie however), usually in various states of undress. She meets the mystical Carroll Baker and becomes entranced with Baker(Mystically not sexually at first). Carroll Baker puts some sort of hex on Valentine's camera and ,everytime Valentine shoots a picture of an individual, she metaphorically, at least I think, injures them as well. Slowly, The attraction pulling Valentine to Baker's character evolves into a sexual one. Valenntine is lured to Baker's home, molested and whipped and saved in the end by her boyfriend. It is a fascinating movie. I will not say that it is a great movie cause there are a few things that the viewer is left wanting. Partly, It is, in my opinion at least, based on an adult comic book that was probably relevant more in 70's Italy, and partly because of censor's scissors that chopped a bit of the movie. Farina, the director, creates wonderful atmosphere and lures you in. Isabelle De Funes, as Valentine, is absolutely gorgeous and intriguing. The Blue Underground version of this film has the censored scenes that were cut out in the extra section of the DVD. Of note in that is a full frontal nude scene from Carroll Baker. Also, A twenty two minute interview with Corrado Farina who, though no great surprise, says Jean-Luc Goddard was an inspiration of his.

'Baba Yaga' is a fascinating mess. Corrado Farina seems like an intelligent guy but even he admits that he failed in his attempt to adapt the erotic comics of Guido Crepax to the movie screen. Farina's initial choices for the lead roles of Valentina and Baba Yaga fell through and so he had to reluctantly make do with Isabelle De Funes and Carroll Baker. On top of that his movie was recut behind his back by a producer with second thoughts and he had to fight to salvage it. Despite all this behind the scenes drama it is a movie which will appeal to fans of arty Eurotrash like Franco's 'Vampyros Lesbos' and 'Eugenie De Sade' and Bava's 'Lisa And The Devil'. The plot of the film is minimal and frankly not its strong point. Valentina (De Funes) is a successful photographer who comes under the spell of a mysterious witch Baba Yaga (Carroll). That's about it folks. The movie attempts to create a dreamlike atmosphere, mixing up fantasy and reality. It isn't entirely successful but some sequences are quite impressive. In fact it's probably best enjoyed if you ignore the minimal story and just concentrate on the imagery and the music. Farina complained that Carroll Baker wasn't the right physical type to play Baba Yaga, who in the original comic strip was androgynous and not conventionally beautiful. That may be so but I certainly enjoy looking at Ms. Baker, an actress who made several left of center movie choices in the '60s and '70s including 'Orgasmo', 'The Sweet Body Of Deborah', 'Bad' and 'Bloodbath'. The DVD by the way includes a brief outtake of a full frontal scene from her for those that are interested. 'Baba Yaga' is one of those movies that you either love or hate. I'm in the former camp.

During the late '60s and early '70s, Carroll Baker expatriated from the United States and made some horror flicks in Italy. Among these giallo movies was "Baba Yaga". It portrays a fashion photographer (Isabelle De Funes) getting involved with an otherworldly older woman (Baker). The title identifies who she is, but people unfamiliar with Slavic mythology may not know who that is. Baba Yaga is a witch in Slavic, especially Russian, folklore. Depending on which story, she can be good or evil, but they usually portray her living in a house standing on chicken legs. We in the west usually mispronounce the second part of her name: we say YAH-gah, but it's actually yah-GAH.

But let's not get off topic. I liked this movie. It was sort of half horror, half look at the mod culture in early 1970s Italy (although it seems like all the giallo movies back then showed it). And of course, there's plenty of eroticism to go around; as far as I'm concerned, Carroll Baker embodies (pun intended) eroticism. Quite cool.

Also starring George Eastman.

If you answered "Yes" you should not bother seeing this movie. However, if you can view a haunted house dark ride style movie as a satisfying cinematic viewing experience, then strap yourself in and enjoy the view as creepy weird unexplained visions flash in front of you. Pouty-lipped Valentina is smack-dab in the middle of the art house European revolution crowd of the time - photographing nude woman by day and walking the lonely city streets at night alone, which is how she meets up with "Baba Yaga" a mysterious woman who dresses in black (played by the always lovely Carroll Baker). She instantly weaves a spell over Valentina haunting her thoughts, her dreams and her camera. She also does a pretty decent job of weaving her magic spell over the viewer. "Baba Yaga" takes Gothic Horror, stylish pop art, comic books and bondage sex, whirls them in a blender and spews the concoction forth. Although very often defined as a "Giallo" film this certainly belongs more to the "Art Horror" genre. Those who are fans of the trippy stylish body-baring Giallo/Horror output from Italy circa 1970 should put "Baba Yaga" on their "must-watch" list.