The Witches' Sabbath / La visione del sabba (1988)

“Ayy, if you do get that chick, all you ‘gots’ is trouble...” – Greaser Greg 

Marco Bellocchio’s bewitching romance The Witches’ Sabbath is next-level surreal Italian witch horror, especially when it comes to the visuals. For me, it’s one of many descendants or even a culmination of Mario Bava’s Black Sunday (1960), but those well-known sacrificial witch-burning spectacles and inquisition tropes we’ve seen so many times at this point are given a makeover and an interesting alternate take. Familiar themes of reincarnation and romance are intentionally ambiguous, as we’re not really sure if the interactions with the witch are real or the fancy of a romantic dreamer. And if the witch is real, it’s anyone’s guess if she represents a fatal attraction for the mortal lover. These uncertainties still make for an enjoyably mystifying experience that really captivates with some of the best unreal and imaginative visuals that are worth the price alone. The film also has a surreal factor to it that keeps it interesting, with a real ‘80s fantasy feel to it at times.

La lunga notte di Veronique / But You Were Dead (1966)

“There are two kinds of taste, the taste for emotions of surprise and the taste for emotions of recognition.” – Henry James 

Even with its familiar look (that darkly romantic title and poster art baiting me in), I could still sense La lunga notte de Veronique was going to be a little bit different than the ‘60s/’70s Italian gothic horrors I’m accustomed to (and still a big fan of). No obvious Poe, Le Fanu, Stoker, Lovecraft, Shelley, or Sade influences. No witches, black masses, zombies, blood countesses, demons, masked killers, sadistic crimson executioners, or satanic love interests, just an effective, tragic ghost romance, without much in the way of ambiguity. 

Currently, it doesn’t seem to have much of a fanbase, but the film is lowkey intriguing. I only just came across it recently, and it is somewhat of a pleasant surprise and a nice addition to the ever-growing collection of underseen Eurocult that will hopefully see a restored release someday. 

Night of the Walking Dead / El extraño amor de los vampiros (1975)

"The sun shining in my dreams / The light is getting hot / Saved by eternity / I have seen death so close / Away, awhile the angels crossed the sky / But I'm condemned to stay here." -- Heavenly  

In his memoirs, Paul Naschy said he had referred Argentine film directing stalwart Leon Klimovsky to be director of his seminal Spanish horror classic La noche de Walpurgis, AKA The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman (1971), because one of the film’s financers wanted a quick and reliable director.

It would seem that Klimovsky was known for his fast shooting and workmanlike skills, and yet he managed to direct some real atmospheric classics of Spanish horror, often on low budgets and high pressured shooting schedules, and he introduced an oft-imitated technique of filming vampires and zombies in slow-motion, capturing a uniquely nightmarish plane of existence in the process.
  
Klimovsky’s vampire films are exceptional and interestingly varied, and they belong alongside the best of Jess Franco and Jean Rollin. The aforementioned The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman was a record breaking box office success that revived the Spanish horror fantasy genre. The other Klimovsky directed vampire films that followed were the epic The Dracula Saga (1973), the more grindhouse flavored The Vampires’ Night Orgy (1974), and the romantic, adventurous, and somewhat eclectic Night of the Walking Dead / The Strange Love of the Vampires, the topic for tonight