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The Devil Witch (1973)

Valentina is a photographer who, one night, has a run-in with a mysterious woman named Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga asks to borrow something from Valentina, promising to give it back the next morning. (I have no idea what the thing was–I decided to just forget it.) Valentina agrees, and after a very odd photoshoot with one model the next morning, she finds Baba Yaga at her door, with the item as promised. The woman also inspects Valentina’s camera, and then everything Valentina photographs is plagued by something horrible. Things continue, including a creepy photoshoot at Baba Yaga’s home, the gift of a strange leather-clad doll named Annette, all leading up to an extremely bizaare ending.

Definitely not for everyone, but still an okay movie. Fans of giallo thrillers will like this very offbeat, trippy movie. I didn’t really understand the meaning behind Valentina’s SS-influenced dreams, and in fact, they were quite disturbing. The bottomless pit in Baba Yaga’s house was a nice touch, and actually, the house in total was quite creepy. Annette was very weird, the living doll. And the ending–that was the oddest part of the whole movie! As I said, not for everyone, but still entertaining. And am I the only one who thought the music was nothing special? Sorry, I didn’t get what all the hype was about from the other reviewers. Oh well. Still, check this movie out if you can find it.