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Il demonio [The Demon] (Brunello Rondi, 1963)
Oct
6
exorcism
While several men hold her down, Purif (Daliah Lavi) sticks out her tongue to the crucifix held up to her. DP: Carlo Bellero.
[A favourite] exorcism film*
“Blood of Christ. Demon. A curse upon this man. A curse that he will never forget me. Blood of my body. Until the grave. A curse that he will never forget me.”
– Purificazione
When a rejected young woman puts a curse on her heart's desire, the locals see nothing less than witchcraft. It is decided that Purif must be possessed, and exorcised.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for October is horror-themed as opposed to date-based, and is all about favourites. Expect non-horror and films I believe to be relevant instead.
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Ansiktet [The Face / The Magician] (Ingmar Bergman, 1958)
Jul
14
Granny Vogler (Naima Wifstrand) telling a sobbing Sara (Bibi Andersson) that yes, she may indeed be a witch. DP: Gunnar Fischer.
“I see what I see, and I know what I know. But nobody believes me.”
– Granny Vogler
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Misterios de la magia negra [Mysteries of Black Magic] (Miguel M. Delgado, 1958)
Apr
12
Two well-dressed women, one of them prostrated on a stone slab. DP: Víctor Herrera.
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Bell Book and Candle (Richard Quine, 1958)
Mar
12
Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) and her Siamese, Pyewacket. DP: James Wong Howe.
“I sit in the subway sometimes, on buses, or the movies, and I look at the people next to me and I think… 'What would you say if I told you I was a witch?'”
– Queenie
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The City of the Dead (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1960)
Mar
3
Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson), exploring. DP: Desmond Dickinson.
– Burn witch, burn witch, burn!
– Dig that crazy beat, man.
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Libahunt [Лесная легенда / Werewolf] (Leida Laius, 1968)
Jan
13
soup
A dinner table shown from above. Several people, we mainly see their hands and wooden spoons, eat from a hand-carved bowl. DP: Algimantas Mockus.
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Libahunt [Лесная легенда / Werewolf] (Leida Laius, 1968)
Jan
13
wolf moon
Tiina (Ene Rämmeld) walking through the forest. DP: Algimantas Mockus.
Wolves for Wolf Moon, the first full moon after Yule.
In Livonia, which covers modern day Estonia, the 17th century was when the werewolf trials reigned.
“Better to be with wolves in the forest, than with people like you!”
Tiina, a young liberated woman taken in by a family of farmers after her mother was put on trial for witchcraft, is accused of hunting with the wolves as a werewolf by her half-sister with whom she shares a lover.
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Valkoinen peura [The White Reindeer] (Erik Blomberg, 1952)
Dec
21
Yule
Pirita (Mirjami Kuosmanen) in Gákti in front of a prism-like structure with a reindeer skull on top. Antlers stick out in the snow around her. DP: Erik Blomberg.
Pagans for Yule. The reindeer plays an important part in Sámi #animism (1/2).
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La notte dei diavoli [The Night of the Devils] (Giorgio Ferroni, 1972)
Oct
12
soup
The two children (Cinzia De Carolis on the right) eat soup and giggle. Some parsley is stuck to the left child's mouth. DP: Manuel Berenguer.
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Veneno para las hadas [Poison for the Fairies] (Carlos Enrique Taboada, 1986)
Sep
19
apples
Verónica (Ana Patricia Rojo) eating a red apple from a paper bag filled with fruit. The kitchen is spartan. DP: Lupe García.