Baba Yaga (1973)

Is this artsy fartsy seventies jive or compelling allegory of the so called enlightened intellects versus the unknown? That's up to you to decide. I know nothing about the comic strip so I can't compare… Valentina is a fashion photographer being romantically pursued by George Eastman (aka Luigi Montefori, from The Unholy Four and The New Barbarians). Fobbing him off one night and walking home herself, she finds a puppy lying within a circle of candles and narrowly manages to save it from being run over by a car driven by the mysterious Baba Yaga (Carrol Baker, from The Devil with Seven Faces). Baba Yaga's immediately starts getting weird on Val, taking a clip from her suspenders and saying she'll be back the next day. And the next day indeed (after Val indulges in some topless photography), Baba turns up and gives her the clip back and gives her address. Intrigued in a way only free living seventies people can be, Val goes to Baba's house, takes photos of things, finds a bottomless pit in the hall, finds a strange glove and puts in on, which prompts her to do a bit of invisible banjo playing while the film turns into a comic. Baba also gives her doll in bondage gear and curses her camera so that every time she takes a picture of someone, they die. The doll on occasion turns into Ely Galleano (from Lizard in a Woman's Skin and High Crime) who puts in a performance so erotic, I felt obliged to send her some money in the post. Sounds weird, eh? It is, all done in a surreal, playful manner with plenty of topless women and kinky situations. It's not overly pervy though, but highly stylish. The sets and general execution are very good indeed, involving scenes that turn from reality to comic strip, a nazi trial, a boxing match with a guy dressed like Jesus, and a soap powder commercial that's truly bizarre. Gore hounds will be disappointed, as will though who like things fast paced. As for me, I liked it. Made a nice change from all the violence you usually get from Italian films from this era. The copy that Shameless Screen Entertainment have released looks to be the fullest version (including a full frontal scene with Baker!), and it looks beautiful. This is the only version I've seen so I can't comment on anything that's gone before.

Italian cinema never ceases to amaze me and this was not an exception. Baba yaga is very stylish Italian horror movie but at the same time it's not as graphic as many movies of the spaghetti cinema. I can assume that it was intended for mainstream cinemas as it is quite bland in today's terms.It's plausible as a nightmare, offering very little shocks and more mystery. I wasn't looking for a masterpiece and i was entertained. It should be noted that this movie is an old kind of horror movie without excessive gore.There definitely is symbolism in this movie that many viewers might not understand. Why'd presumably wealthy, old and lonely woman want to extort a young photographer to obey her will? I thought the witch symbolized power and money and its will to gain more control. The witch wanted to corrupt and enslave the main character. She fought for her freedom and prevailed. I thought the movie was actually very political, like on other movie by the same director, "They've changed their face". I find it intriguing that a movie has a message of this kind. Many Hollywood movies just lack that aspect completely. This movie is also quite slow and if one has to have a new scene every third second, then it might get boring.I can recommend this movie to everyone (adults mostly) and not just for retro fans. It's not a masterpiece and if you're not looking for one then you won't be disappointed. It's more like a lost gem.

Wow...this was in a DVD 4 pack called "Blood Bath" and there was barely any blood...someone got stuck with a pin, the bloody pin was the only blood I remember...also someone literally "drops dead" & someone falls in a hole. On there other hand, the only redeeming thing, was lots of Euro-boobs, but even nipples don't make up for a boring, slow, rambling plot. The atmosphere started out nice, the characters at first seemed possibly interesting...but nothing really develops... Who was Bababooey? Why was she interested in Valentina? Why was the Dog in the middle of the street with a weird cut in it's forehead...and surrounded by candles? Why did the camera make one person sick, one person collapse...who, what & why is Annette a creepy dominatrix doll that comes to life? (but looked hot & bare breasted) I give it 2 stars, one for breasts, and 1 for a glimpse of the 1972 IKEA catalog. (her big round table lamp is still available!)

A communist girl who's utterly uninteresting nor sympathetic meets a weird woman. Later she takes some topless photos of a her friend (apparently she's a "professional" photographer). Then she meets some guy and they talk about pretentious beatnik crap for ever and ever. This has nothing to do with the plot of the movie, they're just killing time. I turned it off at this point, I was bored out of my mind. It's like a particularly dumb 14 year old's idea of the perfect day. I got to see a topless woman, then we cruised around town and talked about how we're going to overthrow the government, because the government should give everybody everything they want, and they're not, so we're gonna overthrow them! The acting was bad, the dialog was laughable, the overall look of the film was extremely cheap, and looking at the shapeless triangles that passed for the lead actress' chest ruined my appetite.