Witchfinder General
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Movie Reviews of Witchfinder General
Movie Review: Vincent Price
Summary: 5 Stars
Vincent Price is wonderful in this movie. A must have for anyone who enjoys Vincent Price.Movie Review: Cinema's account of the infamous Matthew Hopkins
Summary: 4 Stars
Released in 1968, the British film "Witchfinder General" (originally known as "The Conqueror Worm" in the U.S.) details the infamous witchfinding exploits of Matthew Hopkins in Eastern England circa 1645-1647. Hopkins (Vincent Price) and his colleague John Stearne travel from village to village brutally torturing "confessions" out of suspected witches and charging the local magistrates for the "work" they carry out.
Some call the film "the original torture porn" and I suppose it was pretty radical in 1968, but it never struck me as being a torture-obsessed film. It always struck as a British Western with a simple rape/murder and revenge plot: A soldier's beautiful fiance is savagely raped by Hopkins & Stearne and her Uncle, a Priest, tortured & murdered for supposedly being a witch. When the soldier (Ian Ogilvy) finds out he vows revenge. The rest of the story involves the soldier trying to find and kill Hopkins & Stearne while they continue their sadistic activities.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good film, it's just that it always came across to me as more of a Western than a torture film. The only death that I found truly unsettling was the one where a woman is burned to death by being lowered into a bonfire. That scene definitely has a lasting impact.
The writer/director was Michael Reeves, a promising young filmmaker. Unfortunately he died of an accidental barbiturate overdose not long after the film was released at the young age of 25 (the dosage was too marginal to suggest suicide, besides he was already busy working on another film project).
Reeves and star Vincent Price reportedly didn't get along. Reeves originally wanted Donald Pleasence for the title role but the studio forced Price on him and he had to rewrite the script accordingly. Reeves mainly objected to Price's hammy acting style and did everything he could to get Price to play it straight. He would say things like, "Please, Vincent, try to say it without roling your eyes." At one point Price pointed out to Reeves, "I've made 87 films, what have you done?" The director responded, "Made three good ones" (LOL!!).
After seeing the film the following year Price admitted that he finally saw what Reeves was trying to do and wrote him a 10-page letter praising the film (!). After Reeve's death Price stated: "I [finally] realized what he wanted was a low-key, very laid-back, menacing performance. He did get it, but I was fighting him almost every step of the way. Had I known what he wanted I would have cooperated."
The film is only partially accurate as far as history goes, although the gist is true. Hopkins was in his mid-20s when he committed his atrocities, not almost 60 as was the case with Price. Also, Hopkins & Stearne were accompanied by female assistants. As far as Hopkins' death goes, tradition tells us that disgruntled villagers caught him and subjected him to his own "swimming test," although there's no actual evidence to support this; most historians believe he died of turberculosis at his home shortly after his torturous escapades in 1647 (only 27 years old).
One of the film's highlights for me is Hilary Dwyer, who plays the soldier's fiance/wife. She's just a uniquely beautiful woman all around and a pleasure to behold.
Another strong point is the ending which depicts the soldier mad with rage hacking someone to death while his just-tortured fiance screams and screams. The evil inflicted upon them has brought them to this point of maniacal frenzy. It's reality, my friend.
[SPOILER ALERT!] Despite the rather downbeat ending I've always viewed it as somehow uplifting for obvious reasons. There's no reason we shouldn't assume the soldier and his wife move on to live a happy life together. [END SPOILER]
Lastly, some make it a point to stress that "Witchfinder General" is not a Hammer film but rather American International. Regardless, the picture is a British film and was made at the time when Hammer was in its prime; it therefore has that Hammer vibe, which is why some mistake it for a Hammer picture. Needless to say, if you love Hammer films you'll appreciate this one.
PERSONAL GRADE: B
Movie Review: Vinny the P gets Medieval on us
Summary: 4 Stars
Everybody loved Vincent Price. In the 60s and 70s, he was crowned the King of Horror but no matter how many horror movies he appeared in, people still loved the guy. He could do horror classics like MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM or THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM or show up as the villain Egghead on TV's "Batman" or even pop up in a cameo in a Frankie & Annette Beach movie...and everyone still liked him, no matter what he did.
Then he did THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL.
When I saw it as a kid, it was called THE CONQUEROR WORM and, years later, Vincent would show up on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson to do a dramatic reading of that Poe poem about a maggot. I wonder if this is on youtube. I'll always remember his delivery: "...for the play is the tragedy, Man...and its hero...the conqueror worm."
As a lot of other reviews here state, THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL is probably Vincent Price's greatest performance. He is diabolical here but with none of the campy fun of his other films. He is sinister, corrupt, evil. That he tears through the countryside as a gov't/church-sanctioned official only makes him more repellent and horrible.
I remember reading an interview with Vincent and he said making this movie was an unpleasant experience for him. He didn't get along with the director or, if I remember right, the director's personality was darker than Vincent wanted to deal with! The director died of a drug overdose but--again, if I remember this correctly--Vincent was turned off by his dark side and his interest in Satanism (does anyone else remember that? The director was into Satan worship or something).
I'm glad to see the extras so I will be adding this to my horror DVD collection.
Movie Review: Price at his most dispicable...
Summary: 4 Stars
Witchfinder General (though American audiences might know it as The Conqueror Worm), released in 1968, is probably one of his better performances int he set as well as being the most disturbing of his career. In this flick Price plays Mathew Hopkins, a lawyer and professional witch finder/executor, a character that's based on an actual witch inquisitor. While making his way through England torturing and executing "confessed" witches (whether they are guilty or not), Hopkins is summoned to a small town at the behest of the populace to look into a local priest. It just so happens that the priest is the uncle of Sarah Lowes, whose fiancé (Richard Marshall, played by Ian Ogilvy) is a Roundhead fighting against the Royalists. After Hopkins tortures and executes Sarah's uncle Richard comes back to find his soon to be wife in quite a state (she had offered herself to Hopkins in exchange for her uncle's safety and was inadvertently raped by Hopkins' assistant in the process.) Richard vows revenge on Hopkins, stopping at nothing to see him pay for what he's done.
The film was very well made with a startlingly non-camp performance from Price (a feat which young auteur director Michael Reeves accomplished by constantly questioning Price's acting choices unexplained to a point where Price ended up reeling in his typical black humor.) The film was pretty brutal for the time, and much more so than Price seems to typically make. I think it's because the material was handle very realistically and straight forward with no actual witchcraft or crazy plot devices. I was also surprised by the very downbeat ending, also a rarity in Price's oeuvre.
Movie Review: It will get under your skin
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the original version of "Witchfinder General"; about as close to a director's cut as you will get. Some US and VHS versions feature a bad synth soundtrack and additional "wench nudity" to pad the running time. Also some versions were retitled "Conqueror Worm" to try and tie in with Price's work with Roger Corman on the so-called "Poe Films".
This isn't that version. This features the original score and no filler scenes. DVD extras include interviews with some cast members and crew. Some nice tidbits in there.
This is a very uncompromising film for it's time. It takes an unflinching look at the sadistic methods used to extract confessions from accused witches.
This is probably Vincent Price's most horrifying role, and it's probably because he was pissed off throughout most of the filming. The animosity between he and director Michael Reeves is legendary, but Reeves didn't want soliloquies or Shakespeare. And he managed to get a performance out of Price that haunts the viewer long after the credits finish.
**SPOILER**
The creepiest line in the movie is when Price is standing over the drowned corpse of one accused witch. With a malevolent smirk:
"She was innocent..."