28 December, 2014

Raul Artigot (1936-2014) R.I.P.

 (C) Robert Monell, 2014

The distinctive visual stylist who shot Jess Franco's THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN, LES DEMONS and directed one of my favorite Spanish horrors, THE WITCHES' MOUNTAIN (1972), died on Christmas day. He directed three films but was much more active as a cinematographer. He also was DP on such European genre favorites as THE CANNIBAL MAN (1972) and La ragazza dal pigiama giallo...

As both director and DP Artigot was skilled at creating striking exterior imagery, the eerie witch haunted Pyrenees in THE WITCHES' MOUNTAIN, and interiors, the Gothic cubism of the strange chambers of Cagliostro's castle in RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN. The low budget period piece LES DEMONS looks rather sumptuous through the lens of Artigot, whose painterly compositions catch the eye with stylized patterns and colorful juxtapostions of costumes and medieval settings.
 




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