Valerie and her Week of Wonders (1970)

When the Redemption label burst into the video market back in the '80s, they found a ready audience for their somewhat dubious output, since where else could one view the Spanish blind dead templars films or the erotic vampire fantasies of Jean Rollin or the schlock horror of Jess Franco?  However, mixed in among their catalogue of sinning nuns, one occasionally found a real gem, like this Czech film from director Jaromil Jires.  It is bewitchingly beautiful, but not easy to describe, as it materialises the fantasies of a thirteen-year girl on the brink of womanhood.  Her mind is full of vampires and witches, incest and budding eroticism, lost family and dreams of fulfillment.  Without being explicit in any way, one sees the child's sexual awakening while still keeping a child's sense of wonder.  Valerie's spiritual sisters are Alice from Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood.