''Arcana'' is a 1972 Italian horror-drama film written and directed by

Giulio Questi Giulio Questi (18 March 1924 – 3 December 2014) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.Marco Giusti, Dizionario dei film italiani stracult, Roma, Frassinelli, 2004. Questi was born in Bergamo. He wrote short stories and filmed se ...

Plot

In a neighborhood in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Ms. Tarantino, a widow, lives with her son and dedicates herself to practices of

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

. Convinced that his mother knows the true secrets of magic and not just some tricks, the son forces her to reveal them. He will use them against a young girl to be married, Marisa, and he will also spread panic in the neighbourhood, causing accidents of all kinds.

Cast

Lucia Bosé Lucia may refer to: Arts and culture * ''Lucía'', a 1968 Cuban film by Humberto Solás * ''Lucia'' (film), a 2013 Kannada-language film * '' Lucia & The Best Boys'', a Scottish indie rock band formerly known as ''LUCIA'' * "Lucia", a Swedish c ...

: Miss Tarantino *

Maurizio Degli Esposti Maurizio is an Italian masculine given name, derived from the Roman name Mauritius. Mauritius is a derivative of Maurus, meaning ''dark-skinned, Moorish''. List of people with the given name Maurizio Art and music * Maurizio Arcieri (born 1945) ...

: The Son *

Tina Aumont Maria Christina "Tina" Aumont (February 14, 1946 – October 28, 2006) was an American actress. She was the daughter of French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont and Dominican actress Maria Montez. She made her acting debut in the British film ''Modesty Bl ...

: Marisa

Production

's new film was first announced in mid-1970 by

who announced her next film would be titled ''Amanda'' a mysterious mother, a fortune teller, and a sorceress." Filming was done in

between June and July 1971 with the title changed to ''Arcana''.

Release

''Arcana'' was released in 1972. Film historian Roberto Curti described the film as a commercial disaster as the distributor D.D.E. went bankrupt when they were still printing copies of the film. Only five prints of the film were distributed across Italy and it did not play in any major cities.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* Italian horror films Films directed by Giulio Questi 1972 horror films 1972 films Films set in Milan Films shot in Milan Films about abortion Films scored by Berto Pisano 1970s Italian films {{1970s-horror-film-stub