Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga is a 70s Italian New Wave thriller where a photographer Isabelle De Funes has a spell thrown over her by a woman called Baba Yaga played by Carroll Baker. The movie has all the signs of the decade from a cartoonist talking about revolution to nudity, some S&M thrown in and black and white photo montages when De Funes becomes enthralled by Baba Yaga. The thriller part comes in when people around De Funes keep on dying in front of her. I actually thought the art of the movie was better than the actual story but it’s not bad overall.

Carol Baker in her youth was a beautiful woman and no she didn't resemble "Marilyn,Bette Grable,etc " Blonde Bombshells" of her day in "Old Hollywood".. In the 1960's-1970's ..many Italian directors were bold enough to film partial undress...even though footage such as that was illegal in the USA. Heck XXX could get you arrested by the Vice/Moral division ..What I would like to know is how this movie was shown in the USA back in the day ..? Maybe edited and many actors from her generation began exploring " adult content" scripts... as they matured because if you wanted to see films like these "Art house" you had to go to certain theater's.. By today's standards this movie is rather tame ...If you look at "American Gigolo" with Richard Gere " in 1980... we have really come along way. The cast were pretty good ..even though the voice over's were needed... Italian is spoken in a manner that the voice over's sometimes don't match ..when the actors lip's are moving...?

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This is not a sex film. It is an Italian horror film. There is some nudity and the actors were defiantly pleasant to look at. As for the subject matter and the quality of the film it was OK for a 70's or 80's something film. The acting was reasonable but the filming and sound quality was sub standard. All in all it was an interesting movie with good actress, Carroll Baker, and several new comers that were primarily Italian actors. The dubbing into English was OK. Carroll Baker, who moved to Italy and made a number of films there after her fall out with Paramount, Is fluent in Italian. She did an admirable job and convincing in her roll. But this film suffers the same problems as with all films that are over 10 years old. It was too provincial, and the quality of the filming is suspect. It is OK if you have nothing else to do.

Fun 1970's Italian Horror / Suspense - i thoroughly enjoyed it!

Just lame.I watch a lot of old horror movies, in fact probably too many. Most of the time I find even some of the bad ones passable. I don't usually mind if they are slow, as long as they finally go somewhere. This movie is slow, and wants to go somewhere, but really just doesn't. There is a story, but just barely. It tries to be arty, but just isn't. It wants to be occult horror, but was written by someone who obviously doesn't know anything about the occult, or even the "real" Baba Yaga for that matter. It simply falls short on all aspects. Don't bother.

This is a truly sexy flick. From the b/w photo-still erotic interludes and loft studio to the freaky dreams that include Nazis. Given the lack of diversity in most movies of this time/place, I was shocked there's black cast members. Though they couldn't help a lil cringe worthy dialog, “And I want you to forget that you have an education and live in a civilized world… And now let me see some nice primitive drive… Like your ancestors, you know the ones in the jungle that ate up the missionaries”... Then that "Captain White" commercial, smh...Not the best story or plot... But still a damn pleasing and entertaining watch

The film is a bit on the esoteric side for my tastes. It's not exactly what I expected while not knowing what to expect. If you can follow what's going on in the movie it's worth a watch but I would not consider it a "hit" or a "classic" by any stretch of the imagination.

Although this was made in Italy in 1973 it has the style & feel of British films from the mid to late 60's, a combination of David Hemmings' Blow Up meets Hammer horrors. It stars the gorgeous Isabelle de Funes as a photographer & the beautiful Carroll Baker as a mysterious woman dressed in black who lives in an old dark house (true 60's Hammer style) in Milan. This is where the film gets messy for me. It's part photographer snapping topless/scantily clad women, in the studio as well as arty locations, interspersed with "hip" Carnaby Street style grainy still black & white photos, very 1967, & part spooky house horror where I half expected Christopher Lee to appear.Basically the story links the two genres when Isabelle's character meets Carroll's character by chance, or so Isabelle thinks. Carroll befriends her because she intends to possess her. She puts a "spell" on Isabelle's camera which has drastic results when used & she also gives her an odd doll dressed in an s/m leather outfit which also has strange powers. Not wanting to spoil the plot I shall leave it there.There's not much nudity, slightly odd for a Jess Franco film, with Isabelle de Funes briefly topless along with a couple of her models & one other. Carroll Baker does have a full frontal scene & as this version is uncut it is included. Sadly it's one of the cut scenes reinstated & therefore not great quality which is a shame as she is still stunning at the age of 42.It's not a Jess slasher & it's not scary or particularly spooky either. I found it a strange combination.

In this 1973 thriller [aka: The Devil Witch, aka: Kiss Me, Kill Me, aka: Black magic] based on the Valentina series of comics, Milanese photographer Valentina Rosselli meets a mysterious middle-aged seductress called “Baba Yaga” and then experiences some vivid dreams and personal character changes. But things soon become more complex when Valentina is given a doll dressed in leather fetish wear.This is the restored ‘uncut’ version and it’s quite evident which scenes have been reinserted, they are grainy and crackle, which actually highlights the minds of the censors, plus they are in the original Italian with English subtitles. The plot is straightforward, a middle aged lesbian witch with a bondage fetish sets her sights on a trendy art house photographer. Sounds good? Maybe, but the script is a let down in every respect. Lacking any scares it’s not a horror, there is no comedy to lighten the overtly political atmosphere, and the supernatural element is undeveloped although it has some good ideas, [Lose a *]. The fetish doll is suitably creepy as is the featured old mansion but they were just props while the nudity is gratuitous, non erotic and serves no purpose [lose another *]. In short, if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the best bits.The single disc opens to 6 trailers then offers play, set up [English dubbed or Italian with English subtitles], chapters and extras [commentary, interview, freud & fumetti, fumettiphobia, theatrical trailer, gallery and other shameless treats—the opening 6 trailers]. Rated 18 for featuring two glimpses of full frontal nudity, some bare breasts [mainly during photo-shoots] and the burning of the American flag, there’s nothing else here to complain about. Yet, despite everything, this remains entertaining in a 'Hammer' manner and the pop art stylishness did appeal. In reality, this screams for a modern remake, with suitable scares, eroticism and a good supernatural twist or two.

Baba Yaga is a weird and atmospheric movie, highly recommended for fans of Dario Argento and Jess Franco. The scenario is weak ant there is actually no plot but that's the same as with Argento's "Suspiria" and Franco's "Eugenie - The Story Of Her Journey Into Perversion"(1969). Also, Carroll Baker as the enigmatic witch and Isabelle De Funes as the naive photographer that gets seduced by her are excellent!! The cinematography is great and the music is really fantastic. The music is superb and adds a lot in this 70's italian cult film.

very arty filmed with a lot flashing and random images not a good watch

Maybe this film would be better of forgotten... but on the other hand it could be considered a kind of "base-line bad" ! Making a movie from a cartoon isn't easy... and failiure is always an option.