Presented by Music Box of Horrors
Both films introduced by Payton McCarty-Simas. Her book, That Very Witch: Fear Feminism & The American Witch Film, will be on sale!
BABA YAGA (Corrado Farina (1973) 90 min - DCP
“The sexy Seventies film that attacks a dozen major fetishes in 83 minutes.” - Screen Anarchy
This gothic erotic classic from writer/director Corrado Farina (THEY HAVE CHANGED THEIR FACE), based on the BDSM graphic novel by Guido Crepax (“Venus In Furs”) and with a swinging soundtrack from Piero Umiliani, is finally restored and available in North America for the first time! Hollywood exile Carroll Baker (BABY DOLL) stars as the titular witch who seduces a swinging photographer (model/singer Isabelle De Funès) into a maelstrom of sexual obsession, pop art perversity and some of the most uniquely unnerving images in the entire genre. (American Genre Film Archive)
VIRGIN WITCH (Ray Austin, 1972) - 88 min - DCP
Helmed by Ray Austin (HOUSE OF THE LIVING DEAD), written by Hazel Adair, and starring real-life sisters Ann & Vicki Michelle, VIRGIN WITCH arrives gleefully on the heels of rapidly loosening censorship laws in the UK. Riding a line somewhere between the burgeoning rise of folk horror and the wave of ROSEMARY'S BABY rip-offs, WITCH is replete with Pagan rituals, orgies, sapphic lust, and perhaps surprisingly, casual representation of witchcraft as something quite benevolent and liberating.
An appropriately thin plot involving a psychic, a predatory "nice guy", a predatory lesbian, and a hopeful career in modeling simply set the stage for the kind of film best experienced in a 70s haze of vibes and libido. Though historically tossed off as a nutritionless sex film, WITCH has far more on its mind than its reception suggests. Proudly indulging in portraying all manners of behaviour previously illegal to show on screen, there's a level of alchemy achieved here that's rarely matched. Culminating in what could easily be read as a borderline progressive or transgressive take on Satanism, Witchcraft, and breaking free from subservience to ascend into the heavens of hell.
Music Box Theatre screens films of all genres and from every era of cinema, both new releases and repertory. These films may sometimes contain upsetting, outdated, or offensive material. While we aim to introduce many of our screenings, we do not always provide warnings about potentially triggering content within the films we screen. We encourage our patrons to research the film before they attend using trailers, reviews, or content information found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com.
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