Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bizzare, entertaining, Euro-surrealism, June 3, 2003
This movie is based on an Italian comic strip steeped deep in rich dream symbolism and sadomasochism. I felt the movie succeeds only partially in the mixing of dream and reality, which is odd, since so many Italian horror movies and giallos eschew rational in favor of dream logic.The main plot revolves around the title character's (Baba Yaga) scheme to draw the comic strip's main protagonist, Valentina, into the underground world of lesbianism and witchcraft. Considering Valentina's politics, not to mention her sensitive New Age guy boyfriend, Arno (played by George Eastman), its a wonder that Valentina doesn't willing shackle herself to Baba Yaga's whipping post. Other then the film itself, which looks gorgeous, there is an interview with director Corrado Farina and a documentary on Guido Crepax's comic strips. There are also about ten minutes of deleted scenes. This is a hard film to recommend because about 1/2 of the people you would expect to enjoy it will end up hating it and wonder what kind of person you mistake them for. And about 1/3 of the people you would expect to loathe it will claim it's their favorite Italian film of all time. I'm the type of person who thinks this movie will grow on him over time and after repeated viewings but right now I can only give it three stars, though the DVD is definitely a five-star effort. If money is tight, rent before you buy. But if you're an Italio-phile, you're going to end up buying it at some point anyway so you might as well just make it your next impulse buy.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nonsensical but quite stylish, October 26, 2004
Before I watched Corrado Farina's 1973 film, the only place I ever heard the name "Baba Yaga" before was on an Emerson, Lake, and Palmer album. Between the two, Farina's film and the ELP album, the latter made a lot more sense than the former. I love Eurohorror flicks, and will watch almost anything carrying that falls under that category, but "Baba Yaga" ranks as one of the most confusing films I have ever seen in ANY genre. That's saying something. Perhaps the best place to start is by defining what a Baba Yaga is. Well, according to what I found on a lengthy (two minutes, max) research excursion on the Internet, Baba Yaga is a witch in Russian folklore. She has a long nose, has two sisters also named Baba Yaga in order to confuse the unwary, and lives in a hut that can move around on chicken legs. She relies on three horseman and three strange pairs of disembodied hands to assist her in accomplishing her arcane goals. Scary, isn't it? Don't worry, though, since you won't see anything remotely resembling a hut on chicken legs, floating pairs of hands, long noses, or horsemen anywhere in this film. "Baba Yaga" is strictly low budget horror incapable of presenting anything as involved as the abovementioned fantastic features.
Instead, Farina's film is a cinematic adaptation of a comic strip created by Guido Crepax. Who is Guido Crepax? Good question. I never heard of him before watching this film, and haven't heard of him since. I'm sure there are plenty of comic book fans out there familiar with this bloke's name, but I'm not a comic book fan, having given up on that hobby decades ago. Anyway, what you have in the film is a beautiful fashion photographer named Valentina (played by French babe Isabelle De Funes), her beefy lover Arno Treves (George Eastman of "Anthropophagous" fame!), and the enigmatic Baba Yaga (Carroll Baker). Set in Milan, nothing much happens until Valentina runs into Baker's character late one night in an abandoned square. The two strike up a weird connection that begins when Baba Yaga takes one of Valentina's garters with her, claiming that she needs a personal item for unspecified reasons. Hmmm. Immediately after meeting this odd character, the photographer starts having weird dreams, dreams involving German soldiers from the First and Second World Wars. It isn't too long before Baba Yaga shows up at Valentina's apartment looking as weird as ever. Before leaving, the woman lovingly strokes the photographer's camera in a way that let's us know we should keep an eye on that object later on. Then the picture gets really bizarre.
Valentina goes to Baba Yaga's house, a rather gloomy and decrepit place full of junk, dolls, and a huge hole in the floor that seems to have no bottom. Before departing, Baker's character gives Valentina a miniature doll dressed up in S&M attire. Again, we know this doll will play a part in some as of yet unspecified shenanigans. The dreams continue unabated and, in fact, become even weirder. And that camera starts to assume malevolent dimensions as anyone Valentina photographs with it either drops dead or suffers some sort of illness. The doll, too, jumps into the action by suddenly coming to life and strutting around. Or does any of this happen? Perhaps everything is a dream from the time Valentina meets Baba Yaga onward. Eventually, Arno and Valentina launch an investigation into this mysterious woman and her creepy house, an investigation that leads to more questions than answers for both the characters and the audience. Despite the noggin' scratching plot, "Baba Yaga" is an entertaining film if for no other reason than the characters and Farina's ultra stylistic cinematography. Besides, who said this movie has to make sense? This is Eurohorror! When has anything from Europe EVER made sense over here, especially their horror films?
The best element in this movie is the atmosphere. I always think of Milan and most other places in Italy as sun drenched and beautiful. Not here. A lot of the action takes place outside at night, in streets and squares draped in deep, claustrophobic shadows. Even the daytime action seems to have a closed in feel to it. Too, the characters are interesting even if their actions and dialogue make little sense. Isabelle De Funes is gorgeous, hilarious coif aside, and does an acceptable job looking surprised and increasingly alarmed at the insanity unfolding around her. Love those doe eyes! Baker, on the other hand, is often hidden under mounds of dark clothes and a hat that would make a nineteenth century madam proud. Only in one of the deleted scenes included as an extra on the disc does Baker emerge in a way sure to grab your attention. I was impressed with George Eastman's performance; he does a good job playing an antiestablishment industrial filmmaker in love with Valentina. I've only seen Eastman in such schlock classics as "Anthropophagous" and "2019: The Fall of New York." Compared to those films, he could hardly do anything here but succeed in his role.
We get a bunch of extras on this Blue Underground disc. You get nearly ten minutes of deleted scenes that, if they had appeared in the film, would have made "Baba Yaga" even more incomprehensible. There's also a lengthy interview with director Corrado Farina about problems he had with casting, censorship, and distribution of the film. Rounding out the DVD is a short documentary on Guido Crepax and Freudian symbolism in his cartoons, poster and gallery stills, and a trailer that also fails to explain exactly what this film is about. I recommend "Baba Yaga" only to Eurohorror fans, and only experienced Eurohorror viewers at that.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
wow -, October 23, 2003
Baba Yaga is the movie-wise definition of compelling. - This is one of those films that if you saw it in a movie theater you'd be afraid to go to the bathroom for fear you'd miss something. Luckily on DVD you can pause it.
After 10 minutes your rivited to this film to the end. Really plays and looks like a comic strip. Freeze-frame almost any scene and it has comic strip angles, framing, color and people. Whoever said there wasnt nudity is wrong - there is plenty but its approriate and stylish (but not very sexy) to it's underground comic book style.
You cant quite figure out what is going on but you cant take your eyes off the film.
Ultimatly - Baba Yaga is a sexy, old/young, lesbian witch with a cute little S&M doll - together they try to seduce our hero - a sexualy confused but hot babe. Thats what I think its about.
The film was shot by a fine director who apparently only made two movies - too bad.
Baba Yaga is an Italian film but, for the most part, well dubbed into english. Most actors were actually speaking english anyway.
Natzis, nudity, S&M, beautiful girls, murder, political commentarty and witches to name a few of the things going on in this film. Those who are true fans of comic books should love it.
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