DJ GG

Earlier in Issue 002 of Lorihajitura we reviewed the 1973 horror film Messiah of Evil starring Marianna Hill and Michael Greer.

The movie centres around a missing artist, his daughter’s attempts to find him, a strange prophecy, and a town full of zombies.

The missing artist lives in a coastal apartment full of the most extraordinary and downright creepy pop art paintings which he’s rendered directly on all of the walls throughout the dwelling. The blocky silhouettes and bold use of colour intrigued me to find out more about the film’s art director – a lady by the name of Joan Mocine.

On the IMDB she’s credited with the aforementioned Messiah of Evil and two further films – Badlands and French Postcards.

And then she completely drops off the radar.

She was clearly immensely talented with a very distinct style and I would dearly love to know where she came from and what became of her.

Perhaps she started working under a different name? Did she (hopefully not) come to a nefarious end? She had a span of three film credits in six years which is really not an awful lot, and I’m genuinely surprised that there isn’t more information about her.

If anyone knows anything at all, do let me know! You can leave a comment here or contact me at georgy@lorihajitura.com. And if you’re the actual Joan Mocine – say hi! We love your work!