The Devil's Bath

Never had I seen such a raw and disturbing portrayal of how deeply poisoning religion has always been. Of course, such times were hard enough to live in because of environmental reasons, but the way these superstitions and many more are rooted is saddening and enraging because they create unnecessary, absurd and deep malaise in people’s lives, especially women. What is even more saddening is that this dogma is not behind us, but it has only mutated into other forms of the bleak world view that Christianity represents.

I had never felt so sickened by a depiction of a fest.

Also, Anja Plaschg gave a tour-de-force performance, the kind of raw and committed acting that seldom receives the praise and attention that it merits, similarly to Aisling Franciosi in The Nightingale.

I wish I will have the stomach to revisit this brilliant film in the near future, and I can’t wait to see what other stories Franz and Fiala have to tell us.

With the profusion of "horror" movies that I've been watching recently (and when I say _recently_ I'm talking about a solid stream of horror/gore/violent movies over the past couple years) I'm not easily impressed and even less am I shocked. This film, though, left me not only impressed but in shock: The opening scene was shocking enough that I almost turned it off, literally. I wasn't sure I was ready for anything else the film had to offer but I stuck with it. Now, granted, after that opening scene, _The Devil's Bath_ slows to practically a snail's pace: this is not a fast-moving film or storyline. You have to stick with it. After that opening scene, which literally left me with my jaw hanging, I have to admit I was hooked enough to stay with the slow-burn pace of the film and was rewarded with another _"Are you kidding me?"_ jaw-dropping shocker right around the 1:30:00 - 1:35:00 mark. (Seriously, I sat here with my mouth agape staring at the screen, wondering if that had really just happened.) I don't want to give away any spoilers but I will say that the acting was absolutely tremendous. I wasn't sure what to expect with a German film but the acting was superb, the mood so deeply dark and forboding, and the lack of a musical score or background music of ANY kind only served to emphasize the darkness of the whole film. This was an absolutely terrific find and I am not at all sorry I sat through the entire two hours. Yes, it's definitely a slow-burn but wow, what a great horror movie and so refreshingly different from what's prevalent today. If you're willing to give it a try and stick with it - and you really enjoy a good DARK movie - this will almost certainly be a win for you.

Horror as I like it, a story based on real events, a dreary atmosphere, good acting and a great soundtrack. Anja Plaschg is fantastic in her role as Agnes. The scene where she goes to confession is phenomenal.

A good movie that I wil never watch again. It has a very depressing atmosphere, interspersed with a few, quite disturbing scenes. But it's not a made-up story just for shock value. It is historically accurate.

Great cinematography, amazing acting. I think it's worth a watch for sure.

The use of a horror tone for a story that talks about the repression of the depressive state denied to women manages to update a film despite its historical background. The directors use the elements of a narrative that walks on the edges of the horror genre to tell a terrible story about incomprehension and oppression, showing one of the most terrible murders that have been seen lately, not because of its visual effectiveness but because of the helplessness conveyed not only by the victim but also by the murderer. It is a film that raises themes of reflection through a disturbing staging.

Weighty with the heft of some seriously heavy topics The Devil's Bath is bleak and depressing, but in the best way possible. A "The Witch" style musing on mental health in 1750's Austria, along with all the religious trappings, folklore and old wives tales that come with this heavily uneducated and difficult period of human history. As slow as cold molasses, and about as enjoyable to consume, The Devil's Bath is a dark, harrowing social horror that'll stick with you long after your viewing, if you'll let it in. Those that enjoy their horror as black as night and meditative will find a new great in this one, but those that prefer it jumpy and punchy need not apply. A surprise, considering Shudder have completely let this one fly under the radar.

A shocking, dark and very sad slowburn period piece that went under the radar. Psychological horror all the way. Religion and mental health clash for Agnes and it's a toxic mix like no other. The feeling of being trapped can lead someone to madness. It's true horror to even think of living in that period, makes me thankful of living in the 21st century.

Similar to *The Witch* with the thick atmosphere and all the old sets and costumes. A few twists and lots of disturbing bloody imagery that made me feel sick to my stomach. I had tears in my eyes in *that* shocking scene in the third act. The dead human bodies in this looked so damn real, no idea what was practical effects and what wasn't. The maggots in the eyes tell me it's no actors but who knows. I won't forgot these images for a while.

Great performance from Anja Plaschg, so believable and raw. While the performance at the confessionnal is easily the best scene of the entire movie, the way it was handled it felt like unnecessarily spoonfeeding the audience with what they just witnessed in the previous scene. It's also too long, I did start to get bored at times, some of it could've been trimmed. Great ending and thought-provoking overall. This is easily one of the best Shudder originals.

“The Devil's Bath” is definitely one of the more disturbing horror films I've seen so far, and it's not even a true representative of the genre. Because even if the aesthetic is borrowed from folk horror, the film actually only delivers the revelation that it would be pretty shitty to have to live somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Central Europe around 1750.

At its core, the movie is about the phenomenon of “suicide by proxy,” because since committing suicide was apparently considered worse than murder at the time, many people (especially women) became murderers in order to be sentenced to death and be able to make their last confession before being executed. The Age of Enlightenment had obviously not yet arrived in rural Lower Austria at that time.

Overall, I think the movie takes too much time at some points. It quickly becomes clear what is going on in the head of the main character Agnes (Anja Plaschg), but the plot doesn't really move for a long time after that. However, some of the shocks are well placed, and the movie is also really strong in conveying the depressing nature of the era. You definitely shouldn't watch it if you want to have a good time, though. Because “The Devil's Bath” is guaranteed to leave you feeling thoroughly depressed by the end.

Presented as some kind of folk horror, but I would disagree. There is no classical horror elements. It's just the regular, and depressing, life of a woman in the 18th century.

Maybe the most horror like part is that there is the corpse of an executed woman, decapitated that seems to stay there, we don't really know how long, without decaying much, and that people are cutting her fingers as fertility charms.

Otherwise the whole movie is a mostly boring story used to transmit two main messages.

First the absolute abomination that religion is when it's used to control poor and weak minded people. It takes so very long to get there, but this is the main point, as proved by Agnes' last actions and the post ending text. The whole film is based on apparently numerous real cases. Since the priest said that [spoiler]infanticides can confess and go to Heaven while suicides can't[/spoiler], Agnes (and apparently hundreds of women in real life) decides to [spoiler]kill a child to be executed instead of just killing herself[/spoiler].
The complete absurdity of minds poisoned by an all powerful religion.

Secondly, I also understands that as a critique to women's condition. Because why does Agnes wants [spoiler]to kill herself[/spoiler] ? Because she can't accomplish her role as wife and mother correctly. And in people's and most importantly her mind, this is the ultimate failure, because there is literally nothing else that she is supposed to do with her life. If she can't be a mother, what's the point ?

Also, I hope that was an intentional message, but it's all [spoiler]the gay guy's fault[/spoiler]. There is no issue with Agnes, it's clearly because [spoiler]her husband is gay[/spoiler] that she feels like she's failing her life. ([spoiler]And he's also going to hell anyway[/spoiler])

What was the most disturbing thing to me was the final scene, where after the [spoiler]execution[/spoiler], not only everybody rejoys and dances with musicians and all, but they almost fight to pay to drink the blood. Was that also a real thing ?

Also wondering about how real the finger charms and weird melancholy treatment are.