The Witches Mountain (1973)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

People are voting emotionally.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely Fantastic

There may be a more coherent version of this Spanish-made "spooker," but the version that circulated on VHS and TV in the 1970s is a mess. A photojournalist befriends a writer, and rather than drive down to Madrid and have a nice, safe, pleasant romance they hike into Witch's Mountain where the writer eventually joins with the witches and / or becomes a witch. The ending in keeping with the whole movie is unclear. Director Artigot proves his inability of telling a story by staging important dialogs and possible emotional states of the characters in long shot, and saving his closeups for lovingly composed visions of Miss Shepard's face. As the writer cum victim, Shepard isn't given much to do but her presence is the only thing worthwhile in this stinker.

Sometimes certain films get caught in an untenable position. They want to be classy and subtle but don't have the ability to be so. Yet, they avoid elements that would make them interesting or entertaining in an effort to attain a subtlety that is far beyond their means or capabilities. "The Witches Mountain" is such a film. It so strives to attain such an atmosphere that it all but ignores any element whether it be exploitative, strange, or horrific in an effort to achieve its desired goals.And, yet, it doesn't have the ability to generate the suspense it needs to attain such a chilling atmosphere. The film was directed by Raul Artigot, a noted cinematographer making his directorial debut. He knows how to frame a scene, and the photography is quite beautiful. But, for some strange reason, he is unable to create what a low-budget film like this needs most in it's repertoire; the haunting visual imagery so necessary to leaving an indelible mark on the memory of the viewer. All of the best low-budget horror films have indelible images, that once you think about them, shivers run down your spine. From the flesh-eating scene in "Night of the Living Dead" to the menace of Michael Meyers relentlessly pursuing Jamie Lee Curtis in "Halloween", these images create a sense of fear and dread that lasts in your subconscious. They contribute to an atmosphere of suspense that is unrelenting. Which is exactly what this movie so drastically needs. It is unable to attain the ethereal or dream-like beauty that it so longs for, thus leaving the first hour of the film suspense- less and bereft of nearly all action, leading up to a denouement that is flat and uninvolving. And, while there are a couple of surreal moments towards the end, they are much too limited to have any real impact.As for the production itself, the cast, headed by genre stalwarts Patty Shepard, John Gaffari, and Monica Randall, is fine. But the material( A young couple encounters a witches coven while traveling through the mountainside,) is incredibly weak. Only the reliable character actor Victor Israel( "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", "Horror Express", "Goya's Ghost") is allowed to shine through as a sinister innkeeper with a hearing problem. His complex performance is one of the few bright spots in this movie. And while the photography is beautiful, the film is so poorly paced that you literally wonder if anything is going to happen. Even the musical score is a mixed bag. The instrumentals and singing do possess a lyrical, moody beauty that should have been embraced by the movie itself, but the chanting( which is meant to terrify us, I suppose) is grating on the nerves and almost too painful to listen to,So, all in all, this movie doesn't add up to much. The film strives to be a modern Gothic horror story but cannot achieve it. It eschews all other elements in an attempt to create an emotional impact it otherwise lacks. But the only thing it creates is a tepidness that it never recovers from.

The strikingly comely Patty Shepard portrays a lovely sprite writer who along with jerky hairball photographer John Caffari discovers an evil coven of wicked witches living on a remote mountainside. Naturally, said coven have designs on making poor imperiled Patty their next sacrificial victim. Writer/director Raul Artigot (a cinematographer who shot "The Demons" for Jess Franco) trots out all the standard endearingly hokey scare tactics: an annoying little girl gets torched in the shocking pre-credits epilogue, shrieking black mass incantations on the soundtrack, bothersome black cats that turn into people, unsung character actor Victor Israel (the whistling train baggage handler in "Horror Express") as a creepy near deaf innkeeper, dense, all-encompassing fog, even mysterious sinister hooded figures roaming the misty woods at night! Ramon Sempere's exquisitely expansive photography and the ripely verdant countryside scenery give this likably clumsy outing an eye-filling picturesque look. Nice quintessentially 70's downbeat ending, too. Overall, this picture sizes up as a pleasingly atmospheric, if rather talky and leisurely paced fright flick programmer.

This movie has it all! A super macho stud and an amoral chick in the lead roles. Mod clothes, big hair, wooden acting made worse because of dubbing from Italian into English, a script that makes you wonder why the character say or do certain things, etc. While watching the movie, I could just hear what Joel, Crow, and Servo might say. It was fascinating to watch such a good BAD movie. If you like cheesy movies, then hunt this one down. English title THE WITCHES MOUNTAIN. Great fun!