Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)

The first thing you'll notice upon sinking your teeth into Valerie and Her Week of Wonders will quite likely be its eccentricity. Cinematic non-sequiturs, surreal folk horror imagery, and an off-kilter structure will challenge viewers, but those adventurous enough to puzzle it all out will be rewarded.

Valerie... is primarily concerned with the titular Valerie and her coming-of-age. Coinciding with her first period, her livelihood is threatened when an evil man known only as the Constable along with Valerie's grandmother conspire to rob her of her inheritance and toss her aside. Oh, and they may also be vampires. You see, Valerie's story takes place in a world that feels at once familiar yet alien. Events follow a logic that feels like it comes from a bedtime story, right down to the decision to have the main character be an orphan who lives alone with her grandmother in a giant mansion, despite it apparently taking place during the middle ages. And while the film definitely gives off Jodorowsky vibes with its weird story beats, strange visuals, and rapid-fire editing, it's perhaps the Lynch comparisons I kept coming back to; besides its mix of uncanny horror and surreal humor, the plot hinges heavily on a magical macguffin, Valerie's earrings, that feels so much like something out of Fire Walk With Me, only nearly thirty years earlier, that it's uncanny. Some may find it too whacked-out to connect with, and it's doubtless that some will take issue with the frisson of incest that's occasionally present, but I found the tale it weaves to be the perfect balance between bizarre and familiar with its rich thematic content providing more than enough to keep me guessing until the end.

So the film is a thinking viewer's delight then, only that ignores the other elements at play; it is also a delight for the eyes and ears. Shot in good ole' 4:3, will a soft, vintage texture to it, its treatment of horror staples like vampires, witch-burning, and rural towns with dark secrets is as unique as it is lovely. There's an organic, natural look to things that fits with the story very well, and helps balance out the more outlandish subject matter. On the audio side, things are perhaps equally strong; the score utilizes an effective blend of choral wailing and folksy instrumentation that match its visuals flawlessly, and if one wishes, it can be viewed (at least on the Criterion blu-ray) with an alternate soundtrack from The Valerie Project, a group of psychedelic rock musicians that are huge fans of the film. At the time of this review, I haven't yet tried the alternate soundtrack but I look forward to doing so.

Indeed, if the inclusion of the fan-made soundtrack doesn't make it obvious enough, this film has 'cult' written all over it. And not in the way that the general public typically defines 'cult' either, which is to say "So bad it's good;" this film seems designed from the ground-up to be appreciated and poured over by dedicated fans and scholars of cinema. It doesn't require great effort to enjoy, but the more you put in, and the more times you view it, the more you will ultimately get out of it. As with the vampires that inhabit it, once Valerie and Her Week of Wonders sinks its fangs into you, you are unlikely to ever forget it.