The Devil Witch (1973)

A photographer finds herself falling under the spell of a witch.

Director:

Corrado Farina

Writers:

Corrado Farina (adapted for the screen by), Guido Crepax (cartoon)

Stars:

Carroll Baker, George Eastman, Isabelle De Funès

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Carroll Baker	...	Baba Yaga
George Eastman	...	Arno Treves
Isabelle De Funès	...	Valentina Rosselli
Ely Galleani	...	Annette
Daniela Balzaretti	...	Romina
Mario Mattia Giorgetti	...	Carlo, Hippie in the Demonstration (as Mario Giorgetti)
Sergio Masieri	...	Sandro
Angela Covello	...	Toni
Cesarina Amendola	...	Baba Yaga's Neighbour
Mario Paolo Giordani
Carla Mancini
Giorgio Pellizone
Lorenzo Piani
Natalie E. Spleptzow
Rodolfo Zola

Storyline

Strange things have been happening to Valentina, a young and beautiful professional photographer, ever since she made the acquaintance of Baba Yaga, a mysterious older woman who gave her a lift home late one night. For one thing, Valentina has been having weird, kinky nightmares. For another, one of Valentina's cameras seems to have acquired a deadly curse. And then there was that visit to Baba Yaga's house, where Valentina discovered bizarre relics, including a dominatrix doll, and a bottomless pit in the living room. Valentina comes to realize that Baba Yaga is a witch who is out to possess her - body and soul.

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Plot Keywords:

fumetti | based on fumetti | woman in jeopardy | giallo | french giallo | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

20 September 1973 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Baba Yaga, Devil Witch

Filming Locations:

De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

14 Luglio Cinematografica, Productions Simone Allouche, Rewind Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anne Heywood was originally cast as Baba Yaga but withdrew before filming and was successfully fined by the studio.

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Alternate Versions

The film was cut for its UK cinema release to heavily edit two scenes of full frontal nudity. The 2009 Shameless DVD is fully uncut and features a print re-edited by the director which also previously deleted footage including a pre-credits graveyard scene.

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Connections

References The Head of Janus (1920)

User Reviews

seductive and imaginative

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.