Witchfinder General
by Michael Reeves
List Price:
Our Price: $7.17
You Save: $7.81 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.80 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Ian Ogilvy, Patrick Wymark, Rupert Davies, Vincent Price, Wilfrid BrambellDirector: Michael Reeves
Brand: MGM
Writer: Michael Reeves
Producer: Arnold L. Miller
Producer: Louis M. Heyward
Writer: Louis M. Heyward
Writer: Edgar Allan Poe
Writer: Ronald Bassett
Writer: Tom Baker
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-11
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Witchfinder General
DVD 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
Description of Witchfinder General
WITCHFINDER GENERAL - DVD MovieBy consensus, Vincent Price's finest performance among his gallery of horror-movie rogues comes in Witchfinder General, the intense 1968 film that erased any hint of camp from the actor's persona. Price plays Matthew Hopkins, a sadistic 17th-century "witchfinder" who uses barbaric methods to identify (and invariably execute) supposed witches. Along with Price's disciplined work, Witchfinder is also the best film by the talented and ill-fated director Michael Reeves, who was only 24 when he shot the movie. Blessed with a great feeling for English landscapes and an eye for blackly telling details (peasants roasting potatoes in the ashes of a burned witch), Reeves was clearly a promising filmmaker, who died in 1969 from a drug overdose. The most vivid thing about Witchfinder General is the way it explicitly links paranoia and witch-hunting to misogyny, and how female sexual energy is seen by the ruling order as a threat. The final sequence is perhaps the most harrowing fade-out of any Sixties horror picture, and offers no comforting resolution.
Included on the Witchfinder package is a disc of three featurettes: a half-hour bio, the 12?minute Art of Fear that looks at his horror work (with the expected focus on the other films in this box set), and a 15?minute piece on other actors working with Price (although these actors are not interviewed, just the gallery of experts who speak in the other docs). The Witchfinder disc includes a valuable backgrounder on the movie, including the story behind the original U.S. release of the film, titled The Conqueror Worm (to cash in on Price's connection to Edgar Allan Poe works, which this is not), plus a commentary with producer Philip Waddilove and Michael Reeves' favored leading man, Ian Ogilvy. --Robert Horton
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
The Fall of the House of UsherRelease date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $11.19
Price in other shops:
Mark of the DevilRYK; Release date: 2004-10-26; DVD
Best price: $7.30
Price in other shops:
Black SabbathFox; Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $4.30
Price in other shops:
The Pit and the PendulumRelease date: 2001-06-05; DVD
Best price: $21.45
The Tomb of Ligeia / An Evening of Edgar Allan PoeSony; Release date: 2003-08-26; DVD
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops:
The Oblong Box / Scream and Scream AgainMGM; Release date: 2002-08-27; DVD
Best price: $3.91
Price in other shops:
The Haunted Palace / The Tower of LondonMGM; Release date: 2003-08-26; DVD
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
Double Feature: The Comedy of Terrors & The RavenRelease date: 2003-08-26; DVD
Best price: $11.24
Price in other shops:
The TinglerSony; Release date: 1999-09-07; DVD
Best price: $4.29
Price in other shops:
Black SundayFox; Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $14.50