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Poster for Belladonna of Sadness

Belladonna of Sadness

Director: Eiichi Yamamoto Run Time: 86 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 1973

Fans of animated psychedelia, this one’s for you. Provocative and phantasmagoric in equal measure, BELLADONNA OF SADNESS is a triumph of unique animation and uncompromising storytelling, following a young woman who conspires with the Devil himself, taking the form of an elf, to seek vengeance on the sinister overlord who raped her, turning her into a black-robed agent of destruction. With its watercolor-esque visuals, surreal energy and explicit edge, director Eiichi Yamamoto’s film is the perfect animated midnight movie and ripe for a rediscovery. —Matt Barone