‘Tragic Ceremony’ or — Hysterically Hysterical?
Riccardo Freda’s ‘Tragic Ceremony’ (1972) might possess a deceptively simple story (a group of four “teenagers” stumble across a black magic ritual taking place a spooky mansion when their dune buggy runs out of gas) but it also possesses (or is possessed by?) such a demented and dreamlike energy it’s like watching an episode of ‘Scooby-Doo, Where are You!’ directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet. And doesn’t that sound great?
The first half is pretty much a by-the-numbers horror flick with the young friends rocking up at the creepy estate one dark and stormy night. Their hosts are freaky and weird and there’s certainly something unnatural going on in the basement. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before as youth culture clashes with elderly tradition.
Yet what keeps it interesting is Freda’s dynamic eye which rustles up some rather inventive imagery (a mysterious man glimpsed from behind a glass door has his features distorted by the panels), plenty of chromatic variation and, most of all, a surprisingly mobile camera. There’s also a bucket-load of thunderclaps and lightning flashes to ram home the fact we’re watching a horror movie. All this gives ‘Tragic Ceremony’ a phantasmagorical vibe I can only describe as either ‘bizarrely gonzo’ or ‘gonzo-ly bizarre’.
The gang then stumble across that previously mentioned black magic ceremony… and suddenly shit goes fucking CRAZY!
Without giving too much away their intrusion into this satanic mass has a wholly unexpected consequence on the cultists — it completely destroys collective sanity and the result is absolute bedlam (all I’ll say is ‘machete to the head’). It’s an astonishing example of group hysteria and such a side-swiping jolt that it would’ve had me muttering “What the hell?” if it wasn’t for the fact my jaw was too slack to function properly.
From here on out everything’s completely unhinged but dear god, the movie has certainly grabbed our attention because if THAT can happen then anything can.
Freda highlights this newly increased sense of unease by cramming the film with so many little off-kilter flourishes it’s easy to miss them. For example — there’s a moment when the young woman is standing in front of an open fire, a fire which casts a large shadow of her on the wall, whilst one of her friends walks up the stairs to the bathroom behind her, yet the architecture and lighting are positioned in such a way that he passes ‘through’ her shadow without disrupting it as though space itself can be slipped in and out of. It’s a small touch but it creates the undeniable impact that something is about to happen.
By the climax the film’s entirely off the leash, something best illustrated by a gorgeous shot where a gust of wind billows out some curtains and the entire colour scheme shifts from clinical white to spectral turquoise to transcendent gold. I had no idea Freda could be THIS good!
There’s also the sneaking suspicion of some social commentary at play with the then recent Manson family murders used as an excuse to frame the hippies, almost as though a decaying generation of the past is scapegoating the youth of today for their decadent sins.
The film stars the always unnerving Luigi Pistilli, the always ravishing Luciana Paluzzi and the soundtrack was by the wonderful Stelvio Cipriani. Special effects were by the great Carlo Rimbaldi so if you find yourself somewhat gobsmacked by the quality of the gore then that’s why.
At a cursory glance it could be easy to dismiss ‘Tragic Ceremony’ as a scuzzy slice of early 70’s trashy schlock (and there’s the very real possibility that that’s exactly what it is) but it’s a film dense with visual information and a seriously artistic bent. This might not be Freda’s best movie but, in my opinion, it might be his most fun.
