The witch hunter

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Movie
German title The witch hunter
Original title Witchfinder General
Country of production UK
original language English
Publishing year 1968
length 87 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Michael Reeves
script Michael Reeves, Tom Baker
production Arnold L. Miller, Louis M. Heyward, Philip Waddilove, Tony Tenser
music Paul Ferris
camera John Coquillon
cut Howard Lanning
occupation

The Witch Hunter is a British horror film by director Michael Reeves from the year 1968 .

action

In 1645, during the English Civil War , the inquisitor Matthew Hopkins (1620–1647) travels through East Anglia with his assistant John Steame . In each village they visit, transfer them through torture numerous villagers of witchcraft and blackmail the management of their wages. The church and superstitious society support Hopkins in these killings.

Richard Marshall, a young round head , returns to Brandeston, Suffolk , to live with his lover Sarah. He asked for Sarah's hand and received permission from her uncle John Lowes to marry his lover, on condition that he should take her as far away from the village as possible. During Marshall's absence, the family had become outsiders. Marshall must first return to his regiment .

Before the couple can escape, Lowes falls into the hands of the witch hunter. He is being tortured and is to be killed. Sarah tries to convince the witch hunter to release him and spare her uncle. She offers her body in return. Hopkins takes advantage of this and spares the uncle. However, he is being watched by his assistant. Then he is called to another city. In his absence , his assistant rapes the girl. When Hopkins found out, he had the uncle killed.

Marshall returns and learns what happened to Sarah and her uncle. He marries Sarah in a pagan ceremony and tries to kill the wizard on his own. But Steame manages to escape and he tells his superior about the young man's plans for revenge.

Hopkins traps Richard and Sarah in Lavender. He takes Sarah and her husband prisoner there, drags them into a dungeon and charges both of them with witchcraft. Despite severe torture, the two confess nothing. Marshall manages to free himself and he hits the witch hunter several times with an ax and causes him bad luck. Before he can kill him, a rushing soldier shoots Hopkins to free him from his suffering. Richard accuses the soldier of preventing him from taking revenge. Sarah, who has come to the brink of madness as a result of events, screams uncontrollably.

background

The film is loosely based on the novel Witchfinder General by Ronald Bassett . A witch hunter named Matthew Hopkins actually existed, on him the character of the novel is based. Hopkins was a self-appointed witch hunter who tried and sentenced numerous innocent people of witchcraft to death. He died of tuberculosis in 1647 . Like his assistant, some of his victims, such as the priest John Lowes, are historical figures.

The film is an American-British co-production. The two studios American International Pictures (AIP) and Tigon British shared the costs. In the American market, the film was marketed under the title The Conqueror Worm . That was the title of a poem in the story Ligeia of Edgar Allan Poe . This attempted to move the film into the series of Poe films with which AIP celebrated great success in the 1960s. Poe's poem was recited by Price at the beginning and the end to make the title fit. It would be the last film by Michael Reeves, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 25.

Reeves actually favored Donald Pleasence for the role of Matthew Hopkins. The American donors, however, got Vincent Price through, much to the annoyance of the director, who let the actor feel his annoyance throughout the shooting. It is speculated that the tension on the set contributed to the demonic portrayal of Vincent Price. In hindsight, Price described his performance as one of the best of his career.

Michael had this plan, which was, 'I'm not going to have him giving one of those effete performances.' So he proceeded to ignore Vincent. Vincent never went to dailies. I said, 'You should see the beautiful job Michael's doing, ”but he wouldn't go. By ignoring him, Michael got this gutsy performance out of him. Finally, when he saw the movie in New York, about three months after it was finished, he wrote a letter to Michael, saying that he had actually got his best performance out of him.

"" Michael had the following plan: "I'm not going to give him a chance to do one of those effeminate renditions." And so he proceeded to ignore Vincent. Vincent never went to the daily demonstrations. I said, "You should see nice work Michael does "but he didn't go. Ignoring it, Michael got that brave portrayal out of him. Finally, when Vincent saw the film three months after it was finished in New York, he wrote a letter to Michael saying that he actually got his best performance out of him. ""

- Philip Waddilove quoted from:

The film contains some harsh scenes that fell victim to British censorship. An uncut version was released outside of the UK. Nude scenes have also been added for the German market. To date, there is no German uncut version of the film, although MC One is promoting its FSK18 version in this way. The index of the film was lifted again in 2008, in January 2020 the age rating was reduced to 16 years.

meaning

The witch hunter was the first film that made the witch hunt the subject of a horror film and, due to its great success, had various follow-up films (including Witches Tormented to the Blood and The Witches Slayer of Blackmoor ), which, however, could not reach this film in terms of quality. Despite its shock effect, the film is rather atmospheric and tries to exactly recreate the horror of the Inquisition period. Considered for its time, the brutality of the scenes is very daring. Its importance for the horror film of its time should not be underestimated. It is now considered a cult film among horror fans, but it is not very widespread outside of this audience.

The film is also revered in the metal scene : A band called itself Witchfinder General and there are several songs with references to Matthew Hopkins, and others. a. from Saxon . The British Doom band Cathedral used scenes from the film for the video for their song Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) .

Reviews

" The" witch "persecutions and murders of ex-lawyer Matthew Hopkins during the Civil War under Charles I from 1644 to 1646 in England. The illustration of these terrible events, which is based on shuddering and stirring effects, lacks any intellectual or artistic penetration, so that the crass brutalities only appear to be an end in themselves. "

WITCHFINDER GENERAL is a film that anyone interested in the genre should have seen. In many ways the film serves as a role model for later similarly stored but qualitatively inferior strips, is beautifully photographed in places, uses innovative camera work and is carefully executed and staged in its action sequences, its violence is rarely an end in itself. the script is original and consistent, the performance for the genre is simply outstanding. "

- Markus Risser : Bad Movies.de

Probably no other film describes with such authenticity and urgency the inhuman cruelty in the wake of the Inquisition and the persecution of witches through religious fanaticism. "

- MiP : Horror-Page.de

An extremely brutal film about love at the time of the English Civil War in 1645, which indulges in the delightful portrayal of sadisms. An effort to historical connections and a critical distance to them is nowhere to be felt and hardly intended. Because of his anti-humane attitude to reject. "

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Review of the University of St. Andrews ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.st-andrews.ac.uk
  2. a b c d e Steve Biodrowski - Retrospective: Witchfinder General (1968) on Cinefantastiqueonline.com
  3. Version 18 in the Ofdb
  4. https://www.schnittberichte.com/ticker.php?ID=7155
  5. The Witch Hunter. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 22, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  6. Review ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Bad Movies.de]  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / badmovies.de
  7. Review on Horror-Page.de
  8. Evangelical Press Association Munich, Review No. 161/1969

Web links