By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 7, 2025)

Witch hunt! Put Hammer horror, Ralph Bakshi, Peter Greenaway and Ken Russell in a blender, and out pops something that approximates co-directors Raitis and Lauris Ābele’s rotoscoped animation fantasy, set in a Livonian village in the 1600s. A comely herbalist/tavern maid (who may or may not be a witch), an impotent Duke, a malevolent Benedictine pastor and his long-suffering whipping boy, and a (sort of) werewolf all converge in this entertainingly over-the-top folk horror tale of superstition, dogma, and human frailty. Earthy, sexy, visceral, and hallucinogenic, with a dash of dark humor. Not for all tastes (or the squeamish), but adult animation fans should dig it.