Phantasmagoria 1 & 2, Cosmotropia de Xam (Film Facts & Review) 2017-2018

In this blog post I'm reviewing and analyzing in detail the dilogy Phantasmagoria by the cult and mysterious director Cosmotropia de Xam.

I will share interesting facts about the film and tell you about multiple references to cult classic exploitation films I've noticed there myself and others that Cosmotropia de Xam told me about. 

Let's get down to business.

General Information and Why I Decided to Watch It

Phantasmagoria is an independent horror, exploitation and art house film dilogy, created by a modern German director Cosmotropia de Xam whose two other films (Diabolique (2013) and The Inferno Index (2021)) were also reviewed in my blog.

The dilogy consists of two full-length chapters: Phantasmagoria, released in 2017 and Phantasmagoria 2: Labyrinth of Blood, 2018.

Interestingly, despite it has been almost two years since the release of the first part, and a year since the release of the second one, I still can't find any reviews of them online, at least in English. However, both pictures were reviewed in a paper issue of the German Deadline Magazine, which seems to review everything Cosmotropia de Xam releases.

Update: Actually, here is another review, published just a week earlier, when mine was being in progress. But it's better to read it after watching the film. Or if before, then carefully, skipping certain parts, as it recites the whole storyline more in detail, unlike my article. Actually, be careful with mine too: it still may give away certain details too early.

Prior to watching the films, I got familiar with the OSTs to both parts, which I loved a lot. I've been still listening to them often, and I wrote about the soundtrack to the first Phantasmagoria here. All music to the film was recorded by Cosmotropia de Xam and his witch house band Mater Suspiria Vision.

Apart from the music, I was also tempted by the movie trailer for the second part. As a result, I ordered a double DVD package that contained both episodes together. And I'm glad I did: both films are brilliant.

 

Phantasmagoria 2017

 

Plot Summary

An American radio journalist Diane Cooper (Rachel Audrey) is travelling to a small town in Poland in order to investigate "a strange phenomena": why people become delusional. There she meets a strange girl - Valentina (Mari K), who is trying to save Diane from something evil by asking her to leave the town and giving her particular safety advices. At the same time, she is too hesitant to provide Diane with the details on what is really going on here. Diane is not going to give up, and as a result, the "strange phenomena" affects our young and courageous reporter herself.

 

My Expectations

Honestly, after seeing the trailer to the 1st Phantasmagoria, I wasn't really intrigued too much. Having already seen Cosmotropia de Xam's Diabolique, 2013, I expected Phantasmagoria to show just two girls making faces and going crazy in one room.

I actually liked Diabolique even despite there was no real storyline in it, so I knew that probably there could be more to Phantasmagoria than the trailer showed. But the trailer presents the film in a way that it looks as something more disturbing and senseless than it really is. So it was actually the trailer to Phantasmagoria 2: The Labyrinth of Blood that kept me interested.

Despite my expectations, Phantasmagoria 1 does tell a story. Moreover, the way it was filmed, even felt cute to me, and not disturbing at all, unlike the trailer. But it's still a hypnotic, weird and otherworldly horror motion picture.

 

Overall Impression

Advertised as "a return to 70s occult exploitation cinema", Phantasmagoria does resemble retro films of that epoque, thanks to some kind of filter used and also the "vintage fashion selection" by both young ladies starring in the movie: their outfits, as well as room interiors, look elegant and enjoyable for my eyes. Besides that, I liked the beautiful panoramas of the city and the cloudy weather with melting snow and water dripping from the roofs.

The overall sensation the film gave me was a warm feeling of seeing a cute small company of friends having fun together while working on a DIY project. I don't know who else was present during the sessions, but the only persons I noticed were Mari K, Rachel Audrey - the two only (human) actors in the film - and Cosmotropia de Xam, who, as I assume, was the cameraman himself.

There are also pets: a dog and two parrots, who also contribute to the general cuteness. They are the only individuals in the film who seem to be in their right mind.

However, there are enough dark and creepy things going on on the screen as well. All in all, it's a horror film. While half of the time I was smiling, during another half I was mesmerized by bizarre and spooky visual effects, surreal scenes and, of course, the music, that had already become dear to me long ago, but now I could finally learn the original meaning of all spoken phrases, incorporated into the music of the OST, that I was already so familiar with.

Valentina Crepax (Mari K) is secretly taking pictures of Diane Cooper (Rachel Audrey)

Just a pretty old-looking house

Sweet Sleaze

As it's a cheap, independent film, the feel of the sweet sleaze, specific to the aforementioned kind of cinema, is there too. Particularly, when Diane is starting to record her audio notes in the very beginning of the story, mentioning that she is still in the USA, you can see signboards and banners of shops or other local businesses in Polish language in the same frame.

In another scene, when Diane is professionally conducting her extremely elaborate and meticulous "investigation of the strange phenomena", recording her comments on her dictaphone, the camera changes its position and shakes, making it obvious that it's held in hands of a walking person, and you can even hear the creaking sound of the cameraman's steps on the snow.

The dialogues and monologues are obviously improvised and are often shot in long takes. Sometimes it didn't really look very good, particularly when Diane kept repeating same questions followed by Valentina's uninformative answers. But other times, seeing that Rachel is inventing what to say in the process, actually felt natural, as in real life we normally don't learn a script before saying something.

Humour and Acting

There are even a few jokes in the film. And, in general, Rachel Audrey is constantly smiling, looking like she is about to burst out laughing, which sometimes actually happens. In one scene, with a gas mask, where she is actually supposed to laugh, I thought "Finally, Rachel is allowed to laugh as much as she wants. It must have been such a relief for her". Let's just assume that Rachel's character - Diane Cooper - has a personality of a naive, silly gigglebox.

Contrary to Diane, Valentina was supposed to be ill-looking, exhausted and depressed. And Mari K seems to have taken her role seriously, felt it and adapted to it very well. In some scenes this weird contrast between Diane having fun, fooling around and depressed Valentina is especially noticeable. Like here:

Diane: "Look at me, I found a GAS MASK!!!" Valentina: "I don't care, my life is pain".

The most optimistic act of exorcism.

Apart from Valentina, Mari K also played two other characters, one of which had a very different personality, but still far from having much in common with funny, cheerful Diane.

 

Exploitation Elements

There are elements of nunsploitation, an exorcism scene, Mari K's boobs and a bit of bloody gore in the end of the film.

 

 

References to Other Films and Books (Spoiler Alert)

The opening titles are saying that Phantasmagoria is "based on the novel "The Omen Complex" by Sue R. Lizm". But I couldn't find any information about this novel online. I guess, it was a special kind of joke.

As it's specified in the closing credits, Phantasmagoria is "dedicated to Guido Crepax, David Lynch, Andrzej Żuławski and 70s exploitation cinema". And in the film itself there are numerous references to the works of the mentioned creators and particular cult classic films of the exploitation genre. It's likely that I haven't noticed all of them, but here are the ones I've caught myself or learned about.

 

Baba Yaga (Corrado Farina, 1973)

Baba Yaga is an Italian exploitation horror film, shot by the director Corrado Farina and released in 1973. It's based on a comic book series Valentina by Guido Crepax.

But the fun fact is that originally Baba Yaga is a character from Slavic folklore, and quite a comic one. It's an old and ugly witch living in the woods in a wooden hut that stands on chicken legs. Baba Yaga flies in a wooden kitchenware item for grinding food in it (probably, custom-designed in a larger size to fit a human) using a broom like a paddle.

She likes to eat little children, which is not that comic when someone does this in real world, but Russian children are brutal enough to take this all together, incorporated in numerous folktales in a comic form, easily. However, in some tales she is a positive character.

So seeing the OST album's title "Baba Yaga" without knowing yet that it actually referred to a film, felt funny to me. But then I guessed to make a research.

I was looking forward to viewing Phantasmagoria as something special. Knowing about this connection, I watched Baba Yaga first, while the DVD was being on its way from Germany, in order to get prepared and better understand the supposed references to Baba Yaga in Cosmotropia de Xam's film.

Interestingly, in the Italian film they pronounce the name of the witch incorrectly. Originally, in Russian, it's pronounced with the accent on the last syllable: "yagA". But in the film they say "yAga".

The name of the strange girl in Phantasmagoria, played by Mari K, is Valentina - same as the main character in the film Baba Yaga. Mari K's Valentina has a surname Crepax, referencing to Guido Crepax - the author of the comic books about original Valentina.

It also seems to me that Mari K in Phantasmagoria, has a somewhat similar hairstyle to the one Valentina has in Baba Yaga.

Mari K's Valentina is also a photographer, like the one in Baba Yaga.

Another reference that I noticed was a mannequin, dressed in leather items, to make it look similar to the fetish doll from the original Baba Yaga movie.

 

David Lynch

Phantasmagoria was shot in Lodz, Poland, in the same locations as David Lynch's Inland Empire. The name Diane Cooper refers to a character from Twin Peaks. She also uses a dictaphone with "Twin Peaks" logo on it - probably this device was another detail featured in the plot of this TV series.

I'm not familiar with works of David Lynch well enough, so I can't say if there were any other elements used in order to make a tribute to his works.

 

The Blood Spattered Bride (1972, Vicente Aranda)

The Blood Spattered Bride / La novia ensangrentada / La Mariée sanglante, also reviewed in this blog, is a Spanish vampire horror film by Vicente Aranda. It features an excessively bloody scene where two young women are furiously stabbing the body of a man, holding together the same dagger with their all 4 hands. In Phantasmagoria there is a very similar scene that seems to be referring to it.

 

Nightmares Come at Night (1972, Jess Franco)

Parrots in a cage in Valentina's apartment reminded me of Jess Franco's erotic thriller Nightmares Come at Night (Les cauchemars naissent la nuit), 1972, where many parrots lived in a big cage at the house of the main characters. I'm not sure though whether it's a coincidence or Cosmotropia de Xam and the girls really wanted to show some connection with Jess Franco's film.

Behind Convent Walls (1978, Walerian Borowczyk)

Cosmotropia de Xam mentioned in an interview that there was a nunsploitation scene which was a tribute to Behind Convent Walls. I can't identify the exact reference, as I don't remember watching this film, though I had heard about it.

 

For those who already love the film Phantasmagoria, I created this T-shirt design. T-shirts (or many other clothing types) with this design are available at my online B-movie T-shirt store.

Phantasmagoria 2: Labyrinth of Blood, 2018

 

Plot Summary

After the events of the first film, Valentina (Mari K) gets kidnapped by vampires (Shivabel Cœurnoir and Carmen Incarnadine) and escapes. In the course of her escape, she appears on a Spanish shore, where she is found by a mysterious countess (Rachel Audrey).

The countess keeps Valentina in her bizarre castle, preparing her to an important supernatural event Valentina was predestined for, according to an ancient prophecy. Meanwhile, Diane Cooper - the radio reporter from the first episode (Rachel Audrey), arrives to the same location to continue her investigation of the strange phenomena.

 

Overall Impression

After watching the first film, I already imagined what to expect, and Phantasmagoria 2 left me completely happy.

Despite being a sequel, Phantasmagoria 2 doesn't feel repetitive, contrary to what usually happens with sequels. Instead, it's the second chapter that develops and completes the story from the first film. Moreover, its plot is even more intriguing. I don't know how much improvisation was involved, and if this time the actors had any script, but the storyline seems to be better-elaborated than in the first episode.

During many scenes I caught myself thinking that the overall feel reminded me the weird surreal atmosphere of Jean Rollin's first full-length film The Rape of the Vampire (1968). But while the film by Jean Rollin is shot in a way that the storyline is impossible to understand, in Phantasmagoria 2 the development of the events is quite comprehensible.

 

However, the ending is still unclear and leaves the viewer with questions, or offers to imagine own explanation. Probably, the key to understanding of what has really happened, will be given to you as a reward for patience and perseverance if you take the time to watch the whole recording, including the closing credits.

The director notes in his interview to German BLACK Onlinemagazin, comparing the two films:

While part one is more based on Horror and Exorcism, part two is more based on Vampirism and Surrealism.

Indeed, while staying as hypnotizing as the first part, Phantasmagoria 2 felt more fantastic and dreamy, and less cruel and violent. However, despite being (just a little bit) farther from the horror genre, it still contains enough sinister scenes.

Locations

The main difference is made by the season and the locations the film was shot in. This time it wasn't a gloomy Central European town in winter or early spring. It was Spain - hot and sunny Alicante in summer. Around the area where Jess Franco filmed a few of his films, including She killed in Ecstasy (1971), Vampyros Lesbos (1971), Bloody Moon (1981) and, what is the most important, in the same location where he shot The Perverse Countess (1974).

It was so exciting for me to see the same hotel - Edificio Xanadu - still standing there and looking the same, and its surrounding property with beautiful stone stairways.

But the best part was that many scenes were shot in La Muralla Roja - an apartment complex next to it, which is interesting because of its bizarre architecture style. I'm especially grateful to the guys for showing its interior in much more detail than Jess Franco's film offers. Because The Perverse Countess features only a couple of very short takes made in this building.

The only upsetting and frustrating part was seeing graffitis, vulgarly violating the beauty of the places.

The other location was Amsterdam, Netherlands used for the vampire scene, which also includes references to a few cinematographic works of the past.

Actors and Roles

Carmen Incarnadine and Shivabel Cœurnoir as Vampires

First of all, here we have two new actors: Shivabel Cœurnoir and Carmen Incarnadine who played the Vampires. I must admit, they do look creepy, perverse and dangerous, as a normal, self-respecting evil demonic being, contrary to all other kinds of vampires most of other films (especially Jean Rollin's) offer us: graceful, sexy, cute, ridiculous - anything but scary and wicked.

 

If you watched Metamorfosia, a 2014 movie by Cosmotropia de Xam starring Carmen Incarnadine,  you will find the way the vampires extract blood from victims familiar. You will also understand what the black liquid on Carmen's mouth really is.

Triple Rachel

This time, Rachel Audrey plays two more roles in addition to Diane Cooper, which discloses her acting talent much better than the previous film, when I couldn't understand if Rachel was laughing all the time just because she couldn't control herself or this was a part of her role.

Rachel's new characters have very different personalities. The first one is the graceful and lordly Contesse. Particularly, I want to admit her elegant hairstyle and  the dress she is wearing.

The second one is the Being from the Ancient Times - an inhuman demonic creature.

Of course, all three look like one person. During the first couple of minutes of the first scene where Contesse appears, I thought "Why is Diane behaving in such a strange way, too serious for her?". Then I realized it was a different character.

On the other hand, this detail might be giving the film a special meaning. I prefer to imagine that all the events were a dream or hallucinations of one of the characters, seeing the same people she knows in her real life in different roles. Because whenever you see something unrealistic or incomprehensible in a film, it's always a good excuse.

As for Diane Cooper, I had to wait to see her. At some point I even started to worry, thinking that maybe this time the character would have only an episodic appearance, so when I finally saw her, a feeling of joy and relief came to me. Fortunately, there was still enough room for our adorable reporter, who contributed another portion of humour to the story.

Mari K

Mari K played only Valentina this time. She is the main character the whole storyline spins around. In this episode Mari K discloses qualities of her character which we couldn't see very well in the first part.

 

References to Other Films and Literature (Spolier Alert)

Similarly to the previous episode, the film is dedicated to Guido Crepax, Jess Franco and 70's Exploitation Cinema.

Besides the same references from Phantasmagoria 1, here you will find additional ones to the aforementioned Baba Yaga and Jesus Franco's films The Perverse Countess (1974), Bloody Moon (1981), Eugenie... the Story of Her Journey Into Perversion (1970).

The ancient manuscripts Contesse is reading are Oltretomba, a graphic novel / comic book from the 60s-80s and IT International Times - a UK-based psychedelic magazine from the early 70s.

The vampire scene was filmed in Amsterdam and includes tributes to works of Frans Zwartjes - a Dutch experimental filmmaker - and Charles Wilp who made his crazy Afri Cola commercials in late 60 with Donna Summer, Marsha Hunt and Marianne Faithfull (?).

Lastly, there was mentioning of certain details from the novel about Dracula by Bram Stoker.

I'm sure, there were others that I couldn't notice myself or find out about.

 

 

For those who already love the film Phantasmagoria 2, I created this T-shirt design. T-shirts (or many other clothing types) with this design are available at my online B-movie T-shirt store.

Conclusion

I will see how long-lasting my impression and excitement from viewing both films will be, but at the moment it feels like the Phantasmagoria dilogy has probably become one of my most favorite cinematographic works, together with Jean Rollin's Fascination (1979) and Mario Mercier's Erotic Witchctaft (La Goulve) (1972).
In any case, watching these two movies was one of the most memorable film-related experiences that I have had so far.

Bonus Materials

Video

A bit more information from the actresses: Mari K and Rachel Audrey.

Useful Links

• My interview with Cosmotropia de Xam
• Order Phantasmagoria 1 & 2 from Phantasma Disques' Big Cartel shop
• Cosmotropia de Xam's YouTube channel with more trailers and teasers of the film
• A small YouTube Channel of Diane Cooper with a few cute silly videos
• Interview with Cosmotropia de Xam and Rachel Audrey for BLACK Onlinemagazine in English

 

My Parody / Tribute Music Video

 

A Few More Photos of Cosmotropia's Cuties

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