BLACK MAGIC RITES
dir. Renato Polselli, 1973
Italy. 98 min.
In Italian with English subtitles.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1 – 10PM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 14 – 10PM
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25 – 10PM
A group of vampires keep the body of a witch in a castle cellar. They require virgin blood to resurrect her. A party of people arrive and things kick off.
A psychedelic-erotic-horror masterpiece, BLACK MAGIC RITES is hypnotic and transportive in its vibes-first visuals and storytelling.
Starring Mickey Hargitay and Rita Calderoni (A Quiet Place in the Country) and featuring a kaleidoscopic grab bag of 70’s-and-the-occult-isms (witches, vampires, Satanists, flashing lights, crash zooms, psychedelic soundtrack) – this is a midnight flick for the arthouse sickos, presented in an all-new 4k restoration from the original negative.
Viewers should be warned it also features the (unfortunately common and very Italian) depiction of sexual-asssault-turned-”consensual”-sex-scenes, giving a glimpse into the truly vile thoughts behind the eyes of the film’s overtly male gaze.