/ Above: Carol Kane (as Cissy) and Lee Grant (as Ellen) in The Mafu Cage directed by Karen Arthur /
Recently watched: The Mafu Cage (1978). Tagline: “A terrifying love story.”
Basically, nothing I say can prepare you for this truly disturbing and hypnotic oddity. Ellen (Lee Grant) and Cissy (Carol Kane) are two adult sisters leading an isolated, codependent existence in a palatial mansion somewhere in Los Angeles. We gradually learn that both their parents are dead; they grew up in the jungles of Africa, there’s a vague sense of unspecified trauma in their past, and that their father was an anthropologist who studied simians. Cissy still yearns for Africa and has seemingly never adjusted to life in the US. Level-headed, responsible and maternal Ellen combines her career as an astronomer at Griffith Observatory with caring for mentally fragile Cissy, who is childlike, ethereal – but also capable of shocking brutality. When Ellen develops romantic feelings for a male colleague, the sisters’ delicate equilibrium swiftly unravels with horrific consequences ... (Note that while Kane has the showier role, Grant is equally remarkable. Both actresses are exemplary).
/ Carol Kane in The Mafu Cage /
The Mafu Cage is “horror adjacent” without being remotely
kitsch, camp or exploitative: it's a deeply cerebral psychological meditation
on insanity and claustrophobic, dysfunctional family dynamics. I’d argue relevant
reference points would include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) by
Robert Aldrich, Secret Ceremony (1968) by Joseph Losey, That Cold Day in the
Park (1969) and 3 Women (1977) by Robert Altman and the 1975 documentary Grey
Gardens. Unsurprisingly, the distributors were flummoxed about how to promote
this curiosity: it was marketed as a horror flick under various titles including
Don’t Ring the Doorbell (“Chop, chop … Slice, slice … Another man would be so
nice!”), My Sister, My Love and Deviation. The Mafu Cage was little seen at the
time but has gradually been embraced as a cult film. Warning: some of the images
in The Mafu Cage will haunt your subconscious forever! A bonus: the supporting
cast includes Will Geer (Grandpa Walton)!
Watch The Mafu Cage on YouTube.
