Baba Yaga Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Baba Yaga Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 31, 2020

Corrado Farina's "Baba Yaga" a.k.a. "Kiss Me Kill Me" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shameless Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include archival interview with the director; two short featurettes focusing on Guido Crepax and his work; and exclusive new audio commentary by critic Kat Ellinger. In English or Italian, with optional subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Valentina Rossilli (Isabelle De Funès, Raphael ou le debauche) is a fashion photographer with a long roster of clients who lives in the beautiful city of Milan. One night, while walking home she meets an elegant woman driving an expensive black automobile. The woman, Baba Yaga (Carroll Baker, Paranoia), is a powerful sorceress who offers to give her a ride. When they reach Valentina’s house, Baba Yaga takes one of her garter clips and promises to return it on the next day. That night Valentina begins dreaming strange erotic dreams.

As promised, Baba Yaga returns on the following day and attempts to place the garter clip she borrowed on the exact same spot it came from – even though Valentina isn’t wearing stockings. Before she leaves, Baba Yaga also puts a death curse on Valentina’s camera and invites the already seriously confused photographer to visit her home.

In the following days, Valentina’s dreams begin to overlap reality -- she sees Nazi soldiers punishing naked women, herself firing at the women, etc. Seriously perplexed and disturbed, she attempts to focus on her work. In downtown Milan, she takes a picture of a young man participating in a rally and he immediately dies.

Eventually, Valentina visits Baba Yaga’s home, a massive dark house with squeaky doors, holes in the floor and dusty old furniture. There, a beautiful blonde doll wearing a bondage outfit comes alive, chains Valentina and begins playing with her body for Baba Yaga’s pleasure. Out of nowhere, Valentina’s lover, Arno Treves (George Eastman, Anthropophagous), an ambitious film director, appears and confronts the doll.

Inspired by Italian artist Guido Crepax’s Valentina series of books and comic strips, Corrado Farina’s Baba Yaga blends elements from classic European horror and erotic cinema as well as ‘60s psychedelic culture. It was shot in English but also dubbed in Italian for the Italian market. (Baba Yaga was funded by Italian and French producers, who at one point decided to recut and reedit it without Farina’s approval. The scandal that ensued after Farina discovered that his preferred version of the film was compromised was extensively covered by the Italian media).

The film is slow, very moody, and at times somewhat confusing. While Valentina’s dreams are easy to separate from reality, her attraction to Baba Yaga is puzzling. When the two women meet, they utter lines that make little sense, and when later on the sexy doll comes alive, she does not speak at all. Naturally, there is plenty throughout the film that is left to the viewer’s imagination.

This vagueness, however, is what makes the film so fascinating to behold. There are numerous long and beautifully lensed sequences, for instance, that feel like acid dreams, and elegant erotic sequences that are also surprisingly intense. The atmosphere that emerges from them, which is further enhanced by an outstanding soundtrack courtesy of the great maestro Piero Umiliani (Five Dolls for an August Moon, The Body), is truly special. (Another similarly fluid and quite kinky film that is very much worth seeing is Piero Schivazappa’s The Frightened Woman).

Despite many critics insisting otherwise, Baker is excellent as the mysterious Baba Yaga. However, the film clearly belongs to the stunningly beautiful and elegant De Funès.

*This recent release of Baba Yaga features two versions of the film. One of them is a complete reconstruction of Farina's original longer version, which reintroduces a little over six minutes of extra footage. When the cuts were made by the film's producer, and without Farina's knowledge, the original elements were destroyed. As a result, the extra footage comes from standard definition trims. The reconstructed longer version was created exclusively for this release.

Baba Yaga Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Baba Yaga arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shameless Entertainment.

Baba Yaga initially appeared on Blu-ray via Blue Underground in the United States. (You can see our listing and review of the first release here). However, this release features two versions of the film. One of them is a complete reconstruction of Corrado Farina's original and preferred longer version, which reintroduces a little over six minutes of extra footage. When the cuts were made by the film's producer, and without Farina's knowledge, the original elements were destroyed. As a result, the extra footage comes from trims that were pulled out of a standard definition master. I am going to comment on the quality of the reconstructed longer version, which was created exclusively for Shameless Entertainment's release.

First, even though there are some minor framing discrepancies, the master that was used to produce the reconstruction -- as well as the edited theatrical version -- appears to be the same one Blue Underground utilized to produce the U.S. release of the film in 2012. While there is some minor scanner noise that affects the surface of the visuals, this was actually one of the better masters to emerge from Italian labs early into the high-definition format's cycle. In fact, with some basic equipment tweaks, it can make the film look surprisingly good, even on a very large screen. Admittedly, it does help that there is quite a bit of darker footage, but even in areas where there is plenty of light that produces a variety of nuances the visuals can look quite good (see screencaptures #3, 7 and 13). What gives up the age of the master is the nature of the grain exposure, which ranges from decent to good, but does not have that tight and clean appearance new 4K and 2K masters boast. Still, there is a lot to like, especially if you consider how harsh some of the early Italian masters were. (For reference, see the master that was prepared and used for Django). Color saturation and balance are good. Some highlights could have been managed better, but overall the color scheme looks solid. Image stability is very good.

What about the quality of the inserts? Predictably, the difference is quite obvious, so when the transitions occur you will immediately know because delineation, depth, clarity, and color stability are instantly affected. However, I thought that the reconstruction was done really well and especially the continuity of the edited sequences managed perfectly. You can see examples that demonstrated the quality of the trims in screencaptures #16, 17, and 18. Finally, I want to make this clear: there is extra footage in the beginning of the film as well as sporadic inserts in a couple of other sequences. All in all, I think that the folks at Shameless Entertainment did a good job with the reconstruction of the longer version and I am very happy to have it on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Baba Yaga Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. (for the theatrical and extended versions of the film). Optional English subtitles are provided.

The English track should be considered the original track for this film since virtually all of the important characters utter their lines in English. As usual, however, you should keep in mind that some overdubbing was done, which is why some small but notable unevenness pops up here and there. Clarity and sharpness are good, but I wonder if a new remaster might improve the depth and dynamic strength of the jazzy soundtrack. I used to have a R2 DVD release of the film and when Blue Underground released it on Blu-ray the gap in quality was quite apparent. (I am not referring only to the elimination of the PAL speedup). However, if you turn up the volume substantially, it just feels like some areas could sound even better. On the other hand, it is difficult to tell with absolute certainty if meaningful improvements can be made because this may very well be how the original soundtrack was done when the theatrical version of the film was finalized. Obviously, if you watch the reconstructed version, there are additional dynamic fluctuations as well.

Baba Yaga Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - a short archival video introduction for the reconstructed version of Baba Yaga recorded by Corrado Farina. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• The Final Cut - in this archival video interview, director Corrado Farina discusses the genesis of Baba Yaga and specifically how he worked to preserve the original qualities of Guido Crepax's work, the complex relationship between between Baba Yaga and Valentina Rosselli, the casting process, the sexual overtones in the film, etc. (Please note that this isn't the same interview with Mr. Farina that is included on Blue Underground's release of Baba Yaga). In Italian, with English subtitles (21 min).

• Comic-Strip Freud - a short documentary feature about the work of Guido Crepax. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• Comic-Strip Phobia - another short documentary feature about the work of Guido Crepax. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• Audio Commentary - exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critic Kat Ellinger.

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art.

Baba Yaga Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am glad to see that Shameless Entertainment produced this release of Baba Yaga because it has the reconstructed longer version of the film Corrado Farina liked. Blue Underground's release has the trims as well, but they are included as bonus content. Also, this release features a different and quite good archival video interview with the late director that fans of the film should appreciate. RECOMMENDED. (If you enjoy the strange atmosphere of Baba Yaga, you should consider picking up The Laughing Woman, which U.S. label Mondo Macabro will release on Blu-ray in 2021).