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Mondo Macabro Releasing Witches Mountain

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  • Mondo Macabro Releasing Witches Mountain

    Here's another one that goes up for pre-order today at 9am EST.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068966/

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    Rock! Shock! Pop!

  • #2
    Last up to be announced is our one “red case” release for the HALLOWEEN SALE, the 1973 Spanish horror oddity THE WITCHES MOUNTAIN!
    Until now The Witches Mountain has been a difficult film to see in anything approaching the way its makers intended. For complicated reasons, fully explored in the extras on the disc, the film was banned in Spain. This led to a kind of urban legend that it was a violent and misogynistic film full of scenes of sex and depravity. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, The Witches Mountain is one of the most unique films of the 1970s Spanish horror boom. It’s atmospheric, mystical and elusive. A film that lingers in your mind long after you’ve seen it.

    Photo journalist Mario has just broken up with his girlfriend, Monica. To get away from it all he accepts a job that will take him off to the distant and isolated mountains of Asturias in northern Spain. On the way he meets a beautiful writer – Delia - played by horror legend Patty Shepard. After a rocky start their relationship develops and she decides to accompany him on his journey.

    They spend the night in a strange inn, where Delia is convinced she was being watched by a mysterious cloaked figure who appeared outside her first floor window. Then next day, while stopping to take some photos, Mario’s jeep is stolen. Setting off on foot they find the jeep abandoned near a deserted village high in the misty mountains. The couple are offered accommodation in a nearby cottage. From the start things get very strange. Mario disappears during the night and when he returns and develops the photos he took he finds there are people in shots that were not there when he took them.

    Gradually they come to realize that their host, the kindly older woman Santa, might well be part of an ancient cult of female witches who still inhabit the lonely mountain places. Events accelerate from this point and soon, to his horror, Mario sees that Delia has been taken over by the cult and will be their next sacrificial victim. He flees from the place, back to his house in the city. But even there, as he discovers, he is not safe from the mountain witches.

    DISC FEATURES

    Region free
    New HD transfer from the best available film elements
    Choice of English or Spanish language tracks w/ optional English subtitles
    Brand new interview with actor John Gaffari
    Archival interview with John Gaffari
    Archival documentary about the making of the film
    Brand new audio commentary by David Flint
    Video essay about Patty Shepard by Chris O’Neill
    Trailer

    LIMITED EDITION FEATURES

    Booklet on the film and its director by Ismael Fernandez; brand new art by Justin Coffee; 1500 numbered copies in the usual red case
    Goes on sale this upcoming Monday, October 31st at 9 AM Pacific (google what time that is where you live), only at mondomacabro.bigcartel.com!

    Click image for larger version

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    • #3
      I love this movie. It's absolutely hypnotic.
      Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

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      • #4
        "Hypnotic" is the word for this great movie. I wonder what relation Mondo Macabro's version bears to the Collection Fantaterror edition (as "El Monte de las Brujas"), which is a full HD print taken from the original negative with Spanish and English dialog? That version runs 80 minutes. Unless MM's version contains nudity and runs at least 90 minutes, the speculation will not be laid to rest.
        mjeon
        Senior Member
        Last edited by mjeon; 10-31-2022, 05:20 PM.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Matt H. View Post
          I love this movie. It's absolutely hypnotic.
          I was going to pick this up already but will do so right away it shows up for order in Canada now.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by mjeon View Post
            That version runs 80 minutes. Unless MM's version contains nudity and runs at least 90 minutes, the speculation will not be laid to rest.
            This version runs 86 minutes and is sans nudity. Should there be tits?

            What a curious little movie. I enjoyed it immensely. The very loud, sudden, inappropriate opera music recalls Inferno. I wonder if Argento had seen this film. I happened to be watching Inferno just yesterday and this was giving me serious deja vu. Certainly the composer on this had seen The Strange Vice Of Signora Wardh. Is the theme from the movie just lifted here or is there a story there?

            There is some interesting stuff in here. I loved the idea where he processses his photos and there are unexpected people in them. That felt like a terrifying idea that didnt land. When they are looking at the photos it should occur to them that they are probably, even then, surrounded by women they can't see. Doesn't seem to occur to them and so the moment lacks impact.

            Definitely a movie to sink into though. One Larraz fans will enjoy I think. This Larraz fan dug it anyway.
            "Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.

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            • #7
              Seemingly no one knows for certain whether there was ever any nudity. The actual question is whether what we have is the entire movie. However, there is a general feeling that if the film were cut what would be cut would be the nudity due to Spanish censorship (although the movie apparently never had a general theatrical release in Spain). The somewhat short running time (83 minutes or whatever) of the version that has been in circulation for years, the disjointed plot and the fact that there are promotional photos depicting scenes not in the movie itself have given rise to speculation that the film is not complete. On the other hand, the stills do not depict nudity and the addition of the hypothetical missing nude scenes would probably not make the film more coherent.

              I have not seen the documentary on the Mondo Macabro disc. I have gleaned all of this information from a very long thread at Latarnia. There you can also find references to questionable claims that the film was hacked apart after its debut at the Stiges festival because the actresses complained they were forced to have intercourse on the set, that there are mysterious prints in the hands of unnamed jealous private collectors who refuse to share, that the original version ran 100 minutes, etc. Clearly this film is the highway to insanity.
              mjeon
              Senior Member
              Last edited by mjeon; 03-16-2023, 10:51 AM.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Dom D View Post
                What a curious little movie. I enjoyed it immensely. The very loud, sudden, inappropriate opera music recalls Inferno. I wonder if Argento had seen this film. I happened to be watching Inferno just yesterday and this was giving me serious deja vu. Certainly the composer on this had seen The Strange Vice Of Signora Wardh. Is the theme from the movie just lifted here or is there a story there?
                I think the variations of the chilling Dies Irae theme used throughout is what makes the music so memorable, at least for me.
                VHS will never die!

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                • #9
                  I saw this film via a really crappy print on a budget set but it still made an impact. Can't wait to see a nice version of it.
                  I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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