The Witches Mountain – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1973
Director: Raúl Artigot
Writers: Raúl Artigot, Juan Cortés, Félix Fernández, José Truchado
Cast: Patty Shepard, Cihangir Gaffari, Mónica Randall, Guillermo Bredeston, Soledad Silveyra, Luis Barboo, Víctor Israel

Release Date: June 13th, 2023
Approximate running time: 86 Minutes 19 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.99

"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 that appeared outside her first floor window. The 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." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

The Witches Mountain comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40.9 GB

Feature: 24.5 GB

Though no information is provided about this transfer source, it is in very good shape; the source has been cleaned up. Flesh tones look correct, colors look very good, the image looks crisp, there are times where black levels are not as convincing as they should be, compression is solid, and the image looks organic.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono Spanish), 3.75/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Range-wise, these two tracks are comparable; the main difference is that the English-language track has some very minor instances of background hiss. That said, dialog always comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced, and the score sounds robust. Included are removable English subtitles for the Spanish-language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a Mondo Macabro preview reel, a producers trailer (3 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Spanish with removable English subtitles), a video essay by Chris O’Neill about actress Patty Shepard titled An American Actress in Madrid (7 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with John (Cihangir) Gaffari that covers his work in Iranian and Turkish cinema (36 minutes Dolby Digital stereo Turkish with removable English subtitles), an interview with John (Cihangir) Gaffari that covers his work in European and U.S. cinema titled A Conversation With Cihangir Gaffar (30 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), a documentary about The Witches Mountain (24 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with David Flint.

Summary:

Directed by Ral Artigot, who would only go on to direct two other films. He is more known for his work as a cinematographer, working with directors Eloy de la Iglesia and Jess Franco. The Witches Mountain’s score was composed by Fernando Garca Morcillo, whose notable scores include The Cannibal Man, No One Heard the Scream, and Howl of the Devil.

The narrative revolves around a photojournalist named Mario, who hooks up with a beautiful woman named Delia on his way to the Pyrenees for an assignment. Shortly after their arrival, a series of eerie things happen that cause them to doubt what is real and what is a nightmare.

The Witches Mountain opens with a well-executed sequence that perfectly sets the tone and lays the foundation for the events that follow. And though there are some well-timed jump scares, there is a deliberateness to the pacing that some might find slow-moving. Despite there being issues with the narrative flow, the same cannot be said about the opening sequence and the WTF finale, which are easily the strongest and most memorable moments.

Outside of the two leads, Cihangir Gaffari (The Demons) plays the role of a photo journalist named Mario, and Patty Shepard (The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman) plays Delia. The rest of the cast has menial dialogue. The only other cast member with any sizable screentime is Victor Israel (Hell of the Living Dead) in the role of an innkeeper named Posadero. Though the performances get the job done, it is Victor Israel’s portrayal of Posadero that is the most memorable.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, occult-themed horror films were at their peak. And though most of these films had a formula, that often led to predictable results. The same cannot be said about The Witches Mountain, a film that is arguably occult horror cinema’s most unique film.

From a production standpoint, despite its limited resources, The Witches Mountain is a film that does a great job exploiting what it has to work with. Notably when it comes to the scenic locations. Other strengths include Fernando Garcia Morcillo’s sinister score, which perfectly reinforces the mood, and stylish cinematography that is overflowing with atmosphere. Ultimately, The Witches Mountain is an eerie horror film in which the sum of its parts makes its shortcomings easy to forgive.

The Witches Mountain gets a first-rate release from Mondo Macabro that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of informative extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer