MOVIE SUMMARY
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
- English and Spanish audio choice with optional English subtitles
REVIEWS
“There’s this constant supernatural threat just outside of view
that keeps the film on edge.” Chris Kirby, Letterboxd
“A fun
movie that stayed on the borderline of creepy and amusing” Scated
Stiff Reviews
“Some haunting sequences, excellent use of
music, and an exciting conclusion” Hans A./ QuietCool
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