Yesterday I wrote a blog post concerning the magnificent restoration of Riccardo Freda's THE GHOST by Severin. A number of extras on the Blu-ray for THE GHOST mention another film directed by Riccardo Freda that contains some Gothic elements: THE WITCH'S CURSE, originally known in Italian as MACISTE ALL'INFERNO. I decided to seek out this film.
A number of streaming and internet sites have the American version of THE WITCH'S CURSE, an edited, non-widescreen edition that is in poor shape. Luckily, I was able to find the full original Italian version, in its proper aspect ratio and with excellent visual quality. This version has an Italian voice track, but I was able to use English closed-captioning.
As one can discover from the original Italian title, THE WITCH'S CURSE is actually an entry in the very long-running series of movies that feature the legendary character Maciste. This fellow, a demigod of great strength and ability, was introduced way back in the silent era. Maciste is usually lumped into the same category with Hercules, Samson, Goliath, and other sword & sandal characters, but the Maciste films stick out by putting the lead character in all sorts of time frames and situations. A number of Maciste films wound up being shown in America, or on TV, and the character was usually renamed Hercules or some other mythical hero.
THE WITCH'S CURSE is a prime example of Maciste's penchant for showing up at just about any time and any place. The story begins in 1522, Scotland, where a witch is being burned at the stake. The witch naturally places a curse on the local countryside (this sequence easily brings to mind the openings of Bava's BLACK SUNDAY and THE CITY OF THE DEAD). A hundred years later, a descendant of the witch, a young woman, has arrived at the local village along with her newly-wedded husband. The husband has decided to stay at the abandoned castle of his wife's family. This, along with an outbreak of demonic possession, causes the villagers to go berserk, grab their pitchforks and torches, storm the castle, and demand that the young newlyweds be punished as witches. Suddenly, Maciste (Kirk Morris) rides into the fray, and rescues the young couple from the mob.
There is absolutely no explanation why Maciste just happens to ride in on a horse, nor why he is only wearing a loincloth and sandals, as if he is still living in ancient times. He seems to immediately assess and understand the situation, and this is never explained either. Later in the film Maciste explains that he travels the world bringing help to those who need it, as if he's some sort of divine intervention.
No one in the Scottish village seems to question why Maciste is there (one would think the superstitious villagers would automatically perceive the mighty being as a supernatural threat). While the witch's descendant is held for trial, Maciste is led by a sympathetic town official to the tree that grows on the spot that the witch was burned. Maciste upends the tree, and discovers underneath it a portal which leads to the underworld. Maciste enters, hoping to find the witch and destroy her, thereby saving the young couple.
What follows is a very long sequence detailing Maciste's adventures in Hell. The muscleman battles a lion, snakes, a giant, and an eagle, and he also comes upon hundreds of condemned souls writhing in pain due to various tortures (this scene presents a striking tableau, to say the least.) Maciste also comes across a voluptuous blond maiden (Helene Chanel) who offers to help him on his quest. (If you think there's more to this maiden than meets the eye, you're right.)
At this point I have to mention that THE WITCH'S CURSE bears a great resemblance to Mario Bava's HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD, which had been made the year before. Italian genre cinema has a long history of being influenced by (and imitating) other films, so this isn't surprising, especially when one knows that Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava had worked together multiple times. HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD is a much more entertaining film than THE WITCH'S CURSE--Bava brings much more flair and panache to this type of story than Freda does.
Maciste does eventually find the witch and overcome her. (I won't give away how he does so, but it is rather creative for this type of story.) This causes the young couple back in Scotland to be saved at literally the last second, and Maciste rides off to further adventures.
Among English-speaking film buffs, Riccardo Freda is best known for his two Gothic films starring Barbara Steele and his collaborations with Mario Bava, but he had a long and fruitful directorial career that dealt with all sorts of genres. Freda made a number of historical costume adventures, and this is reflected in the Scottish sequences of THE WITCH'S CURSE. The middle part of the story, Maciste's journey to Hell, feels as if it is a different movie altogether, which makes me wonder if the strongman was added to an already existing script. As I've stated before, Freda's style here isn't as showy as Mario Bava's would have been, but his version of Hell (filmed inside an actual location, the Castellana Caves) is still memorable.
Despite his acting name, Kirk Morris was an Italian, born Adriano Bellini. He also was very young when THE WITCH'S CURSE was made (internet sources state he was born in 1942) and he certainly looks it. His Maciste has almost no dialogue (which is probably just as well), but Morris does have a stalwart physical presence, and it appears he did a majority of his own stunts. THE WITCH'S CURSE doesn't have a major supporting presence like Christopher Lee was in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD, but Helene Chanel does provide plenty of Eurobabe eye candy.
THE WITCH'S CURSE is a very good bizarre adventure, but it winds up feeling like two different movies mixed together. Maciste's tribulations in Hell take up so much running time that one even starts to forget why he went there in the first place. (The length of this sequence is extended by a dazed Maciste staring into an enchanted pool and seeing scenes from his past movies.) If you do seek out THE WITCH'S CURSE, try to find the original Italian version--it will give you more of an appreciation of Riccardo Freda's film making talents. I'm going to try and view more of Freda's historical adventures.
