Horrors: Witches' Hammer

[As I screen a number of films, in particular an ongoing series of horror films, thought I'd start listing them here so that 1) anybody in the remote area who feels like joining can, 2) it might offer some watching suggestions for those in other lands, and 3) might lead to me making something more out of my ramshackle scattered patterns of viewing.]


Okatar Vávra's 1969 Witches' Hammer is another entry in my ongoing fascination with the dark and loopy films of the Czech long 70's. This is a black and white, vicious condemnation of the inquisition and the contemporary institutions that replicate that structure of domination. It is also, however, a "black mass of nudity." But this is no exploitation film, more like Carl Dreyer choking back bile at the human capacity to act badly under the name of God. It's damn pretty to look at, too.

This Thursday (tonight), 8:30, my house (161 Belmont St).