I recently mentioned to a friend that I was going through an Occult Moment--he responded by laughing and reminding me that I'd been in an Occult Moment ever since I could talk, gravitating towards "Fantasia's" Night on Bald Mountain sequence, Dungeons & Dragons, and other mystical-flavored weirdness as a rule rather than the exception. There's a power to occult symbolism that still startles and upsets Americans, with a Satanic Panic ever on the horizon in a culture with a bloodthirsty passion for Righteousness. I'm not going to try to detail all the reasons why it's funny to watch a college-educated adult who lives and works in one of the largest cities in the world physically recoil when I tell him that the pretty set of squiggles on my arm is a symbol from Hatian voudou. As an individual who's wiser and kinder than me has gently cautioned on a few occasions, "provocation shouldn't be an end game," but man alive, is it ever a cheap and easy form of fun in this kind of world.
It should surprise exactly no one reading this that Luigi Scattini's "Angeli Bianch, Angeli Neri" is my favorite entry into the Mondo Film genre. It's not a fave because it's the finest of these pseudo-documentaries, but because it's the one that focuses on occult practices around the world. As is the case with all Mondos, the events captured on film are of dubious provenance and the voiceover work is a haphazard mix of judgmental moralizing, lurid exoticism, and out-and-out lying. Since mondo movies were made more with exploitation in mind than enlightenment, international releases chose to focus on different aspects of the material. "Angeli Bianchi..." is an especially interesting example of this phenomenon, as the British "The Satanists UK" takes a decidedly more cynical stance than the wild-eyed American "Witchcraft '70."
From what cursory info I can ferret out, it looks like "The Satanists UK" is very close to "Angeli Bianchi, Angeli Neri" in its content. The blend of fact and hyperbole begins right away, as very real footage of Highgate Cemetery leads into footage of an alleged witchcraft ceremony, a Satanic wedding, and a black mass, all held in England. Apparently England's two key exports during the 1970s were tweed and Satanism, if Italian exploitation cinema is to be believed. After a side trip to Scandinavia for the deflowering of a young witchcult initiate, it's on to an equally dubious exploration of African diaspora religions, complete with animal sacrifice.
The cynicism gets ratcheted up to its maximum with a visit to a man who takes mystical Polaroids, a psychic with a really awful track record, and an interview with a representative of the British Society for Psychical Research (the original Ghost Bros). There's the prerequisite LSD cautionary tale, a cult that believes in the mystical powers of marijuana, further occult exoticism in the form of Santeria, and then a lengthy segment on Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey in his Black House in San Francisco (which, by the way, is filled with all manner of covetable shit like skeletons, gravestones, monster masks and hypno-wheels). LaVey performs a black mass and a Satanic wedding (Satanists may reject Judeo-Christian mores in other ways, but man alive, they really love getting married). The film wraps up with a piece of cryogenics, which would be rather weak sauce were it not accompanied by the film's theme song, a beautiful, minor-key piece that adds an almost Buttgerietian sensuality to the preparation of the corpse. The amazing Piero Umiliani soundtrack enhances the entire film as it vacillates between jazzy vocal tracks and sweeping, almost soupy romanticism. The overall experience of watching "The Satanists UK" is a little like being inside someone else's drug trip, with the haughty, even-toned voice of narrator Edmund Purdom serving as a grounding influence.
"Witchcraft '70" takes a rather more hysterical approach to the same material, excising knowing cynicism (and animal sacrifice) and replacing it with interviews with a fear-mongering police officer. When "Angeli Bianchi, Angeli Neri" was purchased to play on the grindhouse circuit, director Lee Frost was hired to create inserts that would be more suited to contemporary American tastes. The psychic photographer, ghost hunters, and scandalously-inaccurate fortune teller are nowhere to be found. In their places are the aforementioned cop (an expert on OCCULT CRIMES), a staged voodoo ceremony, and a violent hippie orgy that is said to have taken place near the Manson Family's home base at Spahn Ranch. This scene closes the movie instead of the clumsily lyrical look at extending life through science that serves as the finale for the European cut. Also absent is the Umiliani score, in place of which is standard horror-movie music. "Witchcraft '70" plays out as a cautionary look at the dangers of the occult--the very true, very real forces of the occult and the very real, very dangerous people who will use them to tempt you away from the path of religious goodness.
The difference between the two films reflects a chasm of cultural experience between Europe and the States. While religion was state-enforced through much European history, and therefore met with arched eyebrows and resentment by much of the public, the American separation of church and state allowed a type of zealotry to flourish in the absence of government mandate. Plus, there's that whole "this country was founded by Puritans" thing at work whose significance shouldn't be underestimated. If you want evidence of of America's love affair with believing in the supernatural, just take a moment to digest the fact that there are currently over ten ghost hunting shows on American cable television, including one about pets that communicate with ghosts. Panicking about pretend stuff is something this country does exceptionally well--audiences would rather see a chilling expose than deal with any shades of gray regarding the reality of the supernatural. Occam's Razor is always calibrated towards "oh my god, bro, did you hear that? It's cold in here; this place must be haunted!"
"Also hails."
Even for those who don't believe in the supernatural, having that kind of powerful symbolism at one's fingertips is thrilling. I've never wanted to make a giant papier-mache goat head more than after watching this movie. Using that kind of symbol is like having a big, red button in your hand at all times, sociologically speaking... at least at the times when it's not like wearing a big, red target on your chest.
8 comments:
The one movie that I've yet to see in its entirety is the film by Kenneth Anger entitled "Lucifer Rising".
My main interest in the film has more to do with Jimmy Page's musical score (which I've been told is really, REALLY creepy)than with any interest in Crowleyism.
Not that I have anything against Crowley (some of his poetry is actually quite humorous), but you really have to focus a lot of energy on his writings in order to understand where he was coming from.
Excellent post. You could do a whole thesis on this.
Also, plus 1,000,000 for use of the word "Buttgerietian."
My darling Tenebrella -- are you implying you don't believe in Ghosts? Granted that Animal Planet one is pretty hackneyed, but you got to love Nick, Aaron and Zach! With no big camera crews following them around?? Hilarious, bro.
I believe in all of it, then again my conception of belief is different than most. But I've taken enough LSD as a child to know we're all just tuned into a single station on the huge radio dial of life, and those symbols you mention can often spin us just a little to the left, and the static alone is enough to send the craven to their crucifixes! Hail Satin!
"Hail Satin"?...
I'm a polyester guy, myself.
If you're a Dungeons and Dragons fan, have you ever seen the hilariously terrible movie?
I have the press book for Witchcraft '70 somewhere in the basement. I've never seen the movie, but some of the pictures and quotes from the posters were useful in making homemade signs for parties back in my old college days.
Matt, Crowley is an interesting historical figure, but as you say, his writing requires a lot of concentration to sort out. I have a feeling he was more of a provocateur than a philosopher a lot of the time, and you can see his ideas morphing throughout his life as he embraced everything from Satanism to yogic practices to primitive-style blood and sex rituals.
Thank you, Joan! I'm glad someone loved reading this as much as I loved writing it ;)
Erich, I happen to be watching "Ghost Adventures" right now. I may not believe in ghosts, but I believe in the entertainment power of "The Ghost Bros," as they are lovingly known in my household. And really, at the end of the day, isn't that kind of delight a beautiful example of the magic of the universe?
Chris, I used to watch the D&D Saturday morning cartoon!
Fred, my envy is actually hard for me to explain using the English language, but I will try: Dude. That's awesome.
Love this film: I'm honestly pretty squeamish, so a lot of Mondo stuff isn't my bag, but this is such a great mix of ritual footage, sullen psychedelia and spooky voiceover work. It actually reminds me in certain ways of F for Fake as much as Scaresploitation fare like Confessions of a Blue Movie Star or The Hard Road -- I love this film so much I swiped a pretty heavy chunk of dialogue from the Highgate Cemetery scene (from the Witchcraft 70 vsn) for a song of mine. Totally reminds me of being a kid and staying up late to watch reruns of In Search Of while reading Time-Life occult/folklore/Fortean collections. You can see where guys like Craig Baldwin took this formula and ran with it. I'm (obviously) fascinated by that Occult Moment, particularly when it seems to flirt with mainstream sensibilities -- I was just watching The Serpent and The Rainbow and thinking about how that film weirdly mirrors stuff like this. I grew up Catholic, and a lot of that *is* the occult to quite a few Americans; certainly my own church was very open to other faiths (part of CCD was exchange, where we went to talk to and attend services for a bunch of other denominations, and seeing handwritten Torahs and Quaker fellowship meetings really made a big impression on me. I just saw La Papesse for the first time and had similar thoughts, should really write more about this stuff instead of just grabbing stills for tumblr...
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