Black Magic Rites Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Black Magic Rites Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 8, 2023

Renato Polselli's "Black Magic Rites" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the release include new program with composer Gianfranco Reverberi; new program with critic Stephen Thrower; new program with music critic Lovely Jon; vintage promotional materials; and more. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

I see you, Jack Nelson.

Beware of critics who set out to explain exactly what happens in Renato Polselli’s Black Magic Rites. They do not know. And they do not know because Polselli did not know either, which is something that any rational mind will inevitably figure out.

The film opens with an intense and quite disturbing ceremony during which several men dressed in red initiate the resurrection of Isabella (Rita Calderoni), who five years ago was tortured and burned at the stake for being a witch. The men kill a virgin, extract her heart, drink some of her blood, and pour the rest over Isabella’s body. The ceremony is then abruptly abandoned by Polselli’s camera.

In a picturesque provincial area, the wealthy aristocrat Jack Nelson (Nickey Hargitay), his niece, Laureen (Calderoni again), and family members and guests gather at a massive castle for a special engagement ceremony. Laureen, who is soon to be married, can barely contain her excitement. However, shortly after the festivities begin, a local occultist (Raul Lovecchio) makes contact with Nelson and declares that he knows his true identity. Then, while several young female guests are targeted, the past and present begin to overlap in a most unusual manner.

What you read above is the most coherent description I could come up with to give you a basic idea of what to expect if you decide to spend a little over ninety minutes with Polselli’s film. But I must immediately clarify that this description is quite misleading because Polselli’s film does not tell a conventional story. If you decide to give it a chance, it will pull you into a most unusual place and play with your mind for as long as you allow. This is what classic mind-benders do, but oddly enough, Polselli’s film is awfully difficult to categorize as one.

The best mind-benders are almost always conceived and directed by very smart and talented people. They do things on multiple levels, create a spectacular atmosphere, and often introduce special characters. While it may not be immediately obvious, and usually it is not, eventually it becomes clear that their tricks are always part of an interesting concept, too. Polselli’s film does some of these things, but why exactly is unclear. Unless, of course, you focus on the obvious, which is that it was never meant to be an effective mind-bender and that it was supposed to do more for Polselli than its audience.

The film is broken into two parts, and both feature content that must have been shot while Polselli was under the influence of a powerful drug. The bulk of the content imitates the work of the great Mario Bava and the rest is just filler material of the kind that you would see in conventional exploitation projects from the 1970s and 1980s. When merged, all this content becomes the type of cinematic mish-mash that will discover in the likes of Black Moon and Forbidden Zone but garnished with a double dose of sleaze.

Polselli most likely used drugs to stimulate his creative powers, but his work in this film is impossible to describe as original. At best, it is amusing, at worst, it is a failed amateurish experiment.

The film’s constantly evolving personality could have been attractive if its contrasting material had been better edited. Polselli could have framed it to be part of a vivid nightmare, a surreal séance, or a twisted fairy tale for adults. However, in its current form, the film just looks incredibly chaotic and is often unbearably confusing.

Black Magic Rites 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, Black Magic Rites arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

In the United States, Black Magic Rites made its high-definition debut with this release in from the Redemption label in 2012. It is the only release of the film that I have in my library. This recent release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master that was prepared after the film was restored in 4K. (The 4K makeover is also available on 4K Blu-ray. You can see our listing of this release here).

The previous Blu-ray release offered a pretty good but slightly dated presentation of the film. This release offers a very healthy and stable presentation of the film. Generally speaking, delineation, clarity, and depth range from very good to excellent. Density levels are consistently good, too. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections and as a result the entire film has a pleasing organic appearance. Color balance is stable. All primaries and supporting nuances look healthy as well. However, the new makeover has a tendency to emphasize pink a bit too much in select areas shots with faces, lips, and naked bodies. Also, on the previous release, in several areas primary blue shifts a tad too much toward cyan/turquoise and the same shift is more or less replicated here. I think that in some areas it is too strong, too. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Black Magic Rites Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clear and the English translation is good. However, if you turn up the volume high enough, you will notice that in a few areas light background hiss makes its presence felt. Dynamic intensity is modest, and the only notable contrasts materialize when the diverse music score has an important role to play. I did not encounter any audio dropouts or distortions to report in our review.

Black Magic Rites Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Gianfranco Reverberi: When We Were Crazy - in this new program, composer Gianfranco Reverberi discusses his background and musical life, his transition to the film business, and involvement with Black Rites Magic. Mr. Reverberi has plenty to say about his interactions with Renato Polselli and working methods as well. In Italian, with English subtitles. (19 min).

• The 7th Art According to Ralph Brown - this new program takes a closer at the strange cinematic legacy of Renato Polselli. Included in it are clips from interviews with director Luca Rea, Renato Polselli, and actor Mickey Hargitay. The program was produced by Eugenio Ercolani. In English and Italian, with English subtitles where necessary. (34 min).

• Stephen Thrower: Chaos Magic - in this new program, Stephen Thrower discusses the career and cinematic legacy of Renato Polselli as well as Black Magic Rites. In English, not subtitled. (38 min).

• Rock Delirium: Lovely Jon on Reverberi - in this new program, critic Lovely Jon discusses the work of Italian composer Gianfranco Reverberi -- and his brother Gian Piero -- and the soundtrack he created for Black Magic Rite. In English, not subtitled. (25 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics David Flint and Kim Newman.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage for Black Magic Rites. In Italian, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• Gallery - a collection with original promotional materials for Black Magic Rites.

• Book - 80-page ollustrated book with a new essay by Miranda Corcoran, a career-spanning archival interview with director Renato Polselli by Jay Slater, an archival autobiographical piece by Polselli, a look at the career of actor Mickey Hargitay, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and technical credits.

Black Magic Rites Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In the 1990s, the Scandinavian countries became a mecca for the most extreme subgenre of rock music -- black metal. Many of the bands that made black metal music did some genuinely bizarre and dangerous things to stimulate their creativity and, rather predictably, went too far. (One such band is Burzum, whose frontman, Varg Vikernes, was sentenced to twenty-one years in prison). As you can probably guess, powerful drugs were often used. Renato Polselli's Black Magic Rites is considered a "classic" by some members of the black metal community. I think that it is very easy to tell why. Polselli almost certainly shot the film while under the influence of a powerful drug and went too far. It is a hot mess, so at best it is an amusing film, but it is probably worth seeing because it tries really hard to imitate most of what makes the work of the great Mario Bava brilliant. RECOMMENDED only to folks that like to experiment with perplexing genre films.