One of the few films directed by Artigot, a Spanish DP who worked with industry legends like Eloy de la Iglesia and Jess Franco. It's difficult to judge the film in its current condition for a few reasons: the only copies available are brutally panned-and-scanned from the original 2.35:1 ratio, the film was so heavily censored after its premiere that the final product is borderline incoherent, and the picture is so dark on the current releases that it's often impossible to tell what's going on. Nonetheless the film (which basically involves a macho photographer and his female companion getting targeted by a coven of witches) has a pleasing, sleepy ambiance, somewhat reminiscent of Arthur Machen's weird fiction. The mountain location is stunning, and the wacko soundtrack (lots of atonal choral music, and a strangely unnerving pop song) gets you through the more uneventful passages. Easily the best thing about the movie is the ludicrously masculine Cihangir Gaffari. He's even dubbed with a hilariously deep, manly voice - I believe it's the same voice actor who dubbed Paul Naschy in Count Dracula's Great Love. The film also gave me an odd Wicker Man vibe, meaning the insane version starring my beloved Nicolas Cage. This isn't as over-the-top, but like that film this has our protagonist stumbling onto a matriarchal religious sect, complete with a feral muscle man chained up in a cave who the witches use for breeding! Nicolas Cage also claims that he wanted to play Edward Malus as a macho man with a handlebar mustache, which is another interesting connection. Anyway, it's one of those quietly weird movies that I can't help but like, but anyone not obsessed with Euro-horror or handlebar mustaches probably won't find much to appreciate.
Review of The Witches Mountain
The Witches Mountain
(1973)
A flawed but strangely compelling curio from the world of Spanish horror
16 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers