Search - Baba Yaga on DVD

Surprisingly cool "experimental" horror art film - a real ci

Bacchus | Philadelphia, PA United States | 12/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not your typical horror movie by any stretch of the imagination. It is more likely to appeal to fans of Fellini's more extravagant works, of Antonioni or Nic Roeg. Plot involves a stylish young fashion photographer who attracts the attention of a creepily stylish witch (Carroll Baker looking like a beautiful reanimated corpse). Yes, the key word is STYLE. Director Corrado Farina is a director of the first order. His camera savors every image, intercut in a myriad of textures to create a fluid montage of erotic and disturbing imagery. Horror fans might find this an interesting curiosity but film lovers should appreciate it on a much higher level. Like Donald Cammell-Nic Roeg's "Performance" this film exploits the nature of cinema masterfully, transcending its purported genre. Its use of solarized desaturated stills predates the famous "Aha" video by two decades, and much more artfully. Farina sensuously assaults you with his imagery, moving from pop to Goth to pure art in the wink of an eye. If any of this sounds even vaguely tempting, dig up a copy and treat yourself to a slice of cinematic heaven. Sadly, like the equally brilliant and iconoclastic Donald Cammell, Farina seems to have been grossly under-appreciated in his time, yielding only a few films as his legacy."