THE WITCHES MOUNTAIN (1972)
Directed by Raúl Artigot
Unicorn Video, Inc. VHS
THE FILM
Stick a knife in that wig! Caress
a bloody cat corpse! Set a little
girl on fire! After a jam-packed
day of such strenuous activity,
surely a good night's rest is in
order. What a coincidence.
The actions described above all
take place within the first five
minutes of The Witches Mountain.
After that, it's time to drift.
As for the relationship between
those events and the rest of the
film? Your guess is as good as mine.
In this Spanish floater from trash
cinematographer Raúl Artigot
(The
Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein,
Ghost Ships Of The Blind Dead),
common sense is substituted for...not
much of anything. There's a little
drizzle, some beautiful scenery,
and one very intriguing mustache,
but the plot points are a lost cause.
Did I mention the frequent scenes
of people sleeping? The parallels
never cease.
A woman spots a wig with a knife
in it, inspects a dead cat, then
lures a young girl into a garage
inferno. Then, she professes her
love for Mario. Mario has very well-informed
facial hair, but will have none
of this "love" nonsense.
He wants his next photo assignment,
ASAP. While on location in the mountains,
our man spots a stunning woman named
Delia. They go on a trip together.
Mario begins shouting every line,
most likely due to an Innkeeper's
dead-on Marty Feldman impression
(TWO lazy eyes!). Anyway, the new
lovers end up in an old woman's
house. Their jeep is stolen. Emergency
film development leads to a coven
of women in white, which leads to
a decent climax. I'm glad I woke
up in time.
From minute one to minute eighty-three,
The Witches Mountain follows
up bad grammar (and worse dubbing)
with lots of misty space. Unfortunately,
that semi-menacing spaciousness
is vacant. Or filled with several
minutes of unbelievably wretched
soundtrack cues. The choir means
well. The songs do not. Director
Artigot shows hints of the pensive,
watery camera swoops found in his
work with Jess Franco, but not quite
enough. Way-too-close-ups and jarring
cuts appear throughout; they don't
match the travelogue visuals that
hold interest when nothing else
does. Overall, potential was misplaced,
but they gave it a good shot.
The Witches Mountain is
like a cryptic dream. You remember
parts of it when you wake up. Two
hours later, it's all gone. There's
always tomorrow night.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Stretched! Cropped! The washed out
print looks too dark at times, but
runs light on the damage. The sound
was in mono. I had no problem with
it. The Witches Mountain
popped up on Mill Creek's "Chilling
Classics" 50 pack DVD set in
2005. This Unicorn tape was an obvious
master, but somebody tweaked the
contrast way too much; no color
and lots of white.
EXTRAS
Big spenders. The clamshell case
itself is molded with a Unicorn
logo on the inside. Sorry, but that's
all I've got for you.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Odd, irrational, and none too exciting,
all roads on The Witches Mountain
point to impassioned sleep. I can't
recommend this one. Furthermore,
I hold wigs in very high regard.
Stop the violence.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 10.05.06 |
God save the wigs
Cap'n Mario
He loves ya, Marty
Delia on film
|
