Baba Yaga (1973)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Best movie ever!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Isabelle De Funès stars as a fashion photographer in Milan who has a bizarre incident one night with a black-clad woman who calls herself Baba Yaga (played by Carroll Baker). Soon after, Baba Yaga becomes a pervasive presence in her life, eventually gifting her a bizarre doll that is the catalyst for all sorts of mayhem.Not dissimilar to its national peers of the era, "Baba Yaga" (alternately released as "The Devil Witch" and "Kiss Me, Kill Me," depending on which cut you see) is a true Italian horror disaster. The film blends elements of supernatural horror with soap opera drama and lesbian subplots which ultimately add little to the narrative. There isn't much of a story here to speak of; the film was based on a series of comics, and director Corrado Farina does use this basis to craft some clever snapshot still photography, sometimes inserting the comic illustrations themselves. The payoff is purely aesthetic though, and again, offers little substance.I suppose "style over substance" is the grouping factor for the film, as it is actually quite well-photographed, boasting impressive shots of the city (particularly at night), as well as the key actors. The score is overplayed and hokey, and seems like it belongs in a porno more than it does a horror film. In terms of performances, Isabelle De Funès makes for a likable (if not distant) lead; Carroll Baker, whom I consider one of the most underrated actresses of her generation, is actually quite weak in this film, though it's difficult to say if it's a result of her performance itself or the echoey overdubbing that was done. All in all, "Baba Yaga" is in the ranks of the the some of Jess Franco or Mario Bava's most middling pictures ("Succubus" or "Lisa and the Devil" come to mind), epitomizing the term "Eurotrash" in just about every sense. Visually speaking, it is a beautiful film, but it is so wonkily-arranged that it's difficult for the audience to find anything to grab onto. As a visual curiosity and time capsule of the era and place, it's worth a viewing, but it's very much a mess that may or may not be enjoyed. 5/10.

Carroll Baker by this time had moved to Europe to start a new phase of his career,there had more opportunity to make movies like this,worth to remember a Italian star George Eastman who made several spaghetti western,Baba Yaga is an interesting Giallo with some lesbian and fumetti style,that period of time was so popular,using a famous names and appealing to nudes scenes,the fans weren't disappointed for this time,worth each cent!!!! Resume: First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6

Reviewing BABA YAGA, the Blue Underground DVDThere is something terribly wrong here. And it's not just the horrible dubbing. (I'm only too thankful that there is an English version available, I have had a difficult time with DVDs that do not feature the most beautiful language in the world) What immediately strikes you, is that these two actresses are a long way off from looking like the cartoon version. Not that I have any knowledge of Guido Creepax's work, besides having read about it. But the Blue Underground copy I've got, clearly shows the original concept, and these two, though they DO act the parts, and they DO veer in that direction, are kind of almost off- putting, especially Isabelle de Funes. Carroll Baker could scrape through, but Isabelle is a far cry from what was really needed in the looks department. The whole production suffers from this. In the interview with the director, I have since learned that both his main protagonists were rebound choices after initial arrangements fell through AT THE LAST MINUTE, well, three days. Which in MovieLand with its time constraints, is at the last minute! Carroll Baker was taken on in lieu of an androgenic actress/singer that pulled out of the project, and the problem with her was that she wasn't at all 'the witchy type' but she came on board by virtue of being a credited actress. As for Isabelle, she was decided upon because of a photograph, and believe me, she was a promising young stunner, but a (ahem) couple (or so) years before. Again, this one too, was an able actress.So, these two DO manage to live up to their parts. But to settle in with this, and accept what is going on here on the screen, you have to be rid of your notion that all of this is so seriously flawed, and the whole time I just think about re-casting, so there is no way it really gets off the ground for me. I'd say, Good Try, But Not Nearly Close, No Cigar. I did like the Devil Doll, both the plastic and the full flesh versions, wow, there is a story in the interview about her too, fully explaining why she didn't get a speaking part. She was 'catastrophic' but fortunately not on the physical front.Lots of bare breasts, and I want to like it more than I do, but the overriding feeling is that this was a waste. Completely. I cannot bring myself to give it the lower score it deserves, though. I love stuff that goes against conformity, and, my sympathies to the director, this was really 'directed by circumstances'!

Psychedelic soft-erotic exploitation movies were an inexplicably popular trend amongst European directors back in the late 60's and early 70's. This generally pointless sub genre of horror consists of movies that basically don't have any plots, but are stuffed with trendy looking women parading around naked and fetishist escapades that all healthy heterosexual males are supposed to fantasize about. Yeah, right … I don't know about you, but I surely never dreamed of sadomasochistic rubber dolls or Nazi elimination squads. The list of these oddball movies is long and contains efforts from several acclaimed directors, like Mario Bava's "Lisa and the Devil", Jess Franco's "Succubus", Massimo Dallamano's "Venus in Furs", Umberto Lenzi's "Orgasmo" and Piero Schivazappa's "The Laughing Woman". "Baba Yaga" also fits into this category, but here the script was inspired by an eccentric comic books series courtesy of Guido Crepax. Basically this means that "Baby Yaga" is even weirder and more flamboyant than all the other psychedelic sex flicks mentioned here above. During a live and personal presentation of his film, at a festival in my home country Belgium, director Corrando Farina explained that he tried to translate as many comic book elements to the screen as possible, but that it certainly wasn't easy due to budgetary restriction and uncooperative producers and censorship. Still, no matter what Farina claims, nothing can divert the attention away from the fact that "Baba Yaga" is a dull and utterly incoherent movie. I didn't spot any artistic style elements at all and the hallucinogenic footage is just a bunch of randomly scraped together and irrelevant sleaze. Isabelle De Funès (Louis' yummy niece, apparently) stars as a liberated photographer in Milan. Late one night and following only a brief encounter, she reluctantly becomes the object of obsession of the funnily named lesbian witch Baba Yaga (Carroll Baker). The deranged hag turns Valentina's camera into a murder device, transfigures her best friend into an SM-doll, inflicts eerie nightmares on her and eventually lures the poor girl to an abandoned mansion with nasty sewing machines and bottomless pits. In case you're looking for significance, symbolism or possibly even an explanation, I'm afraid I have to discourage you straight away. Everything that happens in "Baba Yaga" happens for absolutely NO reason and the film finishes just as void as it begun. To round up with at least a couple of positive remarks, I really liked the music and both Isabella De Funès and Ely Galleani are stunningly beautiful ladies to look at. George Eastman (as the heroine's clueless boyfriend) is good too, but I definitely prefer the roles he played in his later career as they were practically all villainous.