Witchfinder General | 1968 | 82mins | Director: Michael Reeves

[ReviewAZON asin="B000RO9PUU" display="inlinepost"]The cold opening – the hanging on the hill is bleak, lonely, isolationist, atmospheric and unbelievably harrowing. A screaming hysterical middle aged woman in a tattered dress is being dragged to a waiting hilltop gibbet, being followed by a handful of peasants and a priest. She passes out and is revived by a thrown bucket of water. Her hanging is distantly watched by the man behind the event: Mathew Hopkins.

Witchfinder General is so uniquely loaded that an analysis that would touch upon all of the noteworthy aspects of this film would go into pages.

Best to phrase it: 24yr old prodigy director, not a Hammer, not Vincent Price scenery chewing, fantastic period piece, historically accurate, English countryside, evil, chilling, madness……of equal if not higher status to ‘The Wicker Man’.

Context matters – set in 1645, Mathew Hopkins – played by Vincent Price, is a lawyer come self appointed witchfinder, a bone fide character from history. An evil man, paid by magistrates to find, torture and execute suspected witches. This was a period in history when witchcraft was to then what paedophilia is to today: feared, reviled, susceptible to wrongful accusation, fevered and sensationalist.

Most other critical appraisals of this film point to madness as the essential key element: the Civil War was as much a madness as torturing, burning and hanging witches. It is better by far to see this film as a lesson as to what can happen on a small level whilst something bigger is happening. Why should anyone care what is happening to ordinary people when the state of the nation is at stake? A republican soldier does and sets off to find Hopkins and his sidekick Sterne. The two of them visited his fiancée and tortured her priest uncle, capturing him and keeping him in a nearby dungeon. The soldier sees the injustice of this and risks court martial to avenge his woman and friend.

A considerable amount of this film is set in East Anglia countryside – and for this reason when the Bfi were compiling a list of Britain’s top 100 films as their contribution to the centenary of film celebrations WFG was included. Vast green landscapes provide the canvas for the chases between Hopkins and Richard Marshall, played by a very young, dashing and handsome Ian Ogilvy. Ogilvy was a player of Michael Reeves – the then 23 year old director, they had worked together on The She Beast, and Reeves fought the American production company API to have him as the main lead.

The casting as it is works: Donald Pleasence was initially first pick for the role of Mathew Hopkins – but Vincent got it instead and this stands (with Laura) as one of the best films of his career. Vincent Price has renown for hammy performances: the Dr. Phibes double bill although fun have VP playing an evil monster no-one in their right mind could take seriously. Here Michael Reeves fought to get the best out of Vincent asking him consistently to play down the role and not gesticulate wildly as he was want to do as an actor. As a piece of anecdote Vincent initially resented taking instructions from this 23 year old fresher declaring ‘I have made 84 films’, ‘what have you done?’ Michael replied ‘2 good ones.’ Vincent then roared with laughter and did as he was told to a very chilling and measured effect.

The BBFC told Reeves to tone down the violence in WFG – but was allowed to keep vital aspects of the horror in: The Lavenham Burning is particularly nasty as a woman is lowered slowly into the flames below to the watch of her screaming husband.

Screaming figures large in this film – even the opening and closing credits have freeze frame shots of women in agony, the last sequence of Ian Ogilvy screaming resentfully at the soldiers who had shot Hopkins who was being axed to death by Marshall

Richard Marshall:

‘YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME’ ‘YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME’ ‘YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME.’………….

This film stands out from the Hammer efforts as one of the best horrors Britain has ever made. It lacks the opulence of Hammer, but is better for depicting real historical horror as opposed to relying on mythical creatures such as Dracula and Frankenstein as central figures. It is considered that Mathew Hopkins was responsible for 600 deaths and was paid handsomely for every one of them. There is some contention as to how the man himself met his end: some say that he himself went through a trial by ordeal. This was a means of testing whether or not the accused was a real witch. They would be tied up and thrown into a river – if drowned it meant God wanted them and they were innocent. If floated – it meant they were rejected by God and were in league with Satan. There is no accurate account of Hopkin’s demise – but the one depicted in WFG seems just enough and it is preferable to think of him as ending his life in this way.

The special features on this DVD are a joy – with a wonderful profile of Michael Reeves and his work, stills from the movie and commentary from Kim Newman. It is available in all formats but its US title is ‘The Conqueror Worm.’ A strange choice considering America has a rich history of supposed witchcraft and treatment of those suspected. Witchfinder General (no ‘The’) is far better.

Review courtesy of Gail Spencer