Baba Yaga 4K 1973

Baba Yaga is a rather unusual film for Italian cinema. In terms of style, it is closer to American cinema, which is not surprising, given that it is based on a comic book. Nevertheless, Corrado Farina, who directed the film, retained certain features of mystical horror from the Apennines, but this hardly benefited the film. The conventionality of the graphic story's plot, superimposed on the realism traditional for Italy even in its most implausible twists (add to this the fact that Farina himself came from documentary filmmaking), gave rise to a strange hybrid that is difficult to know how to relate to. On the one hand, there are the images characteristic of giallo: the “victim who survives” and her friend (fiancé, lover) who saves her at the very last moment; on the other hand, there is the frankly “comic book” figure of “Baba Yaga” with her mysterious villainy and living doll. On the one hand, there are lesbian and BDSM motifs, on the other, there is almost Hollywood-style puritanism in relation to erotic scenes. On the one hand, there is an aesthetic borrowed from noir detective stories, on the other, there is a rather sluggish and calm development of the plot...

In general, the dish turned out to be quite neutral in taste, if not bland. And the acting, as they say, left something to be desired... Louis de Funès' niece showed no talent other than her surname, George Eastman only looked adequate in Joe D'Amato's films, and Carroll Baker, in the role of Baba Yaga, didn't really have much to play... Nevertheless, despite all of the above, watching the film is not boring at all, and this outweighs its many shortcomings. Yes, there is practically no intrigue, the actors are just... well, just acting; but the cinematography is excellent and stylish, and some of the scenes are staged by Signor Farina in a simply “delicious” way. Just the first meeting between Baba Yaga, riding in a luxurious Rolls-Royce, and Valentina is worth it! Another thing is that many episodes leave behind a feeling of parody—well, what do you expect, it's a comic book! Here, not only an enchanted camera and a bloodthirsty doll in sadomasochistic attire are possible—we've seen worse...

One way or another, the film has taken its place in history, even if not immediately... If only because it clearly stood out from the orderly ranks of Italian giallo and spaghetti horror with its unconventionality and frank trashiness, noticeable even against the backdrop of mass Apennine film production, which was not always distinguished by good taste. And in this case, it doesn't matter how bad or good Baba Yaga looked when it was released in 1973.