With the release of THE LAST WITCH HUNTER, SHOCK looks at three thoughtful (and graphic) witch-killing masterpieces.
With the fantastical Vin Diesel vehicle THE LAST WITCH HUNTER hitting screens today, legions of practicing, peaceful witches and Wiccans around the world are no doubt once more slapping mystical mitt to forehead. For once more, as cinema and pop culture has long done, the practice of witchcraft here is portrayed as phantasmagorical and cartoonish and those who represent it are generally illustrated as devil-loving, overtly sexualized women who are in league with the underworld and aim to spread chaos, death and madness through the ages.
Which is, of course, a cauldron full of bullshit.
But horror films are fantasies and, of course, have free reign to pervert and exploit the truth in order to pursue their narratives. This writer cites Dario Argentos witch-centric SUSPIRIA as one of his favorite films, a movie whose delectable art-house style houses a load of factual hooey. And certainly, we can go back to THE WIZARD OF OZ, with dear old green-faced, wart-nosed and pointy-hatted Margaret Hamiltons Wicked Witch to see where the origin of the Halloween-centric representation of witchery lies. But again, thats totally fine. Were not criticizing. After all, its only a movie, only a movie, only a movie
That said, the idea of witches as diabolical, Satanic monsters is intrinsically married to mankinds ancient, ignorant anxiety surrounding the female of the species, specifically and explicitly dating back to the First Testament when, in Exodus, it states that Thou shall not suffer a witch to live
This bit of nonsense perpetuated the fear of any woman living on the fringe and, especially in Europe during the Modern Period, the capturing, trial and execution (by hanging, stoning, burning etc.) of millions of innocent people was Government and Church sanctioned. To think that any woman who dared defy the norm, to stand outside of the accepted Judeo-Christian belief system was marginalized and murdered is wrenching. God forbid if a woman was mentally ill or had refused the attentions of a male in some sort of position of power. She was powerless. Damned either way and doomed to die in terror and pain. Dark times indeed. And to think that in some grim corners of the planet, women still are indeed subject to such things
In reality, when you get down to it, the historical plight of the witch or those falsely deemed to be one of these dreaded anti-establishment women, is not particularly fun. So, on that somewhat heavy-handed note, SHOCK will now drag up the (un) Holy Trinity of our favorite exploitation films that, while also existing as fantastical and sometimes deeply exploitative entertainments, are, at their core, emotional and provoking examinations of the evils that men (and select enabling women) can do when using an ancient text to perpetuate and give reign to their sadism and greed and ultimately, their hard-wired mistrust of women.
WITCHFINDER GENERAL (aka THE CONQUEROR WORM, 1968)
American International Pictures snapped up this affecting British historical psychodrama and attempted to adhere it to their dwindling, often Roger Corman-steered Poe cycle by changing the name to THE CONQUEROR WORM, a Poe-m that has absolutely nothing to do with the palpable human horrors on screen here.
Directed by the late Michael Reeves, who previously had made the hoary BLACK SUNDAY rip-off THE SHE-BEAST (also starring Barbara Steele), WITCHFINDER GENERAL may have been Reeves attempt to atone for that one-dimensional kill the witch flick by making a film about murdering women in the name of lust and greed. Vincent Price delivers his most restrained and powerful performance (one that was reportedly figuratively beaten out of him by the intense, never-satisfied Reeves) as the real-life figure Matthew Hopkins, a sadistic Dandy who was appointed Witchfinder General in Cromwell England and who, along with his drooling henchman Stearne (Robert Russell), combed the countryside, taking large commissions from magistrates in exchange for flim-flam witch hunts that ended in torture and mass murder.
Price is raping, mincing, hypocritical evil personified in this violent, horrifying and deeply moving film whose atrocities are offset by the disturbing Arthur Miller-informed peek into the horror of apathy. Even more upsetting, beautiful actress Hilary Dwyer (who appeared in a handful of AIP costume dramas of the period) was in reality, decades later, sexually assaulted while on vacation in Barbados and reportedly was alternately ignored, ridiculed and vilified by the corrupt local authorities for her testimony. Life sadly imitating art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGGbZEZZRDk
MARK OF THE DEVIL (aka WITCHES TORTURED UNTIL THEY BLEED, 1969)
Following the success of THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL, Austrian producer Adrian Hoven and British director Michael Armstrong took a stab at making a far-seedier version of THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL (a glimpse at the films alternate title should tip you off at the more downmarket approach to the subject matter) with this beloved and notorious exploitation classic.
THE PINK PANTHER franchise vet Herbert Lom here assumes the role of the sanctimonious, witch-killing man of God, Lord Cumberland, who rolls into town with his sadistic inquisitor Albino (the grotesque, but by all accounts lovely, actor Reggie Nalder from Tobe Hoopers SALEMS LOT) and his innocent, trusting protégé Christian (a young and pretty Udo Kier) and proceeds to point the finger at every innocent woman (and select man) whose lifestyle runs counter to Biblical belief.
Lom is icy and frightening, Nalder is a human monster and the beautiful Olivera Katarina is the heart and soul of the picture as free-spirit Vanessa, whose love for Christian causes him to second-guess his mentors mad practices. Famously, the US distributor issued barf bags for the release of the film but, although the violence and endless torture is still-brutal to endure, its affect is, thanks to sympathetic characterizations, more heartbreaking than stomach-churning. Beautiful score too, by Michael Holm, which was in fact recycled in the recent trash movie satire HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqBAKptamUk
THE DEVILS (1971)
What more can be said about master Ken Russells unhinged and brilliant adaptation of Aldous Huxleys novel THE DEVILS OF LOUDON that hasnt already been said before? Its hard to believe that Russell and company were influenced by the success of THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL and MARK OF THE DEVIL but the song is certainly the same except Russell, God bless him, sings it far louder than any of them.
Oliver Reed stars as the passionate (too passionate, as hes sleeping with almost every willing female in town) rogue Priest Urbain Grandier, whose refusal to let the state bring down the walls of his beloved city, launches a serpentine political witch hunt (with deep ties to McCarthy-ism). Using the testimony of a mad, sexually twisted and hunchbacked nun (Vanessa Redgrave), the hysterical Father Barre (LIFEFORCEs Michael Gothard who is totally over-the-top here) is brought in to gauge Grandiers Satantic influence and, using threats, torture and violence, whips up the entire convent and city into a rabid, histrionic, sexual frenzy. Grandier is forced to stand trial for being a witch (or, warlock) and having an evil hold over the women and the people. So here, we have political forces with an agenda, attacking an individual and using his flaws against him, putting on what equates to, under Russells wild eye, a gigantic, bloody, psychosexual rock opera to convince the people that the King is Godly and just, while an innocent person is evil and must be done away with. The presentation may be insane but, at its core, the message of persecution and media manipulation is profound and oh, so timely.
Famously, Warner Bros. has kept THE DEVILS out of release for decades (the uncut version, featuring a staged rape of a statue of Christ is even harder to find) and some have suggested that its anti-theological bent may be the culprit. If that is the case, thats just sad and frustrating. Because THE DEVILS may be one of the most honest, progressive documents of what true faith and Godliness represents than any other film ever made. Grandier is a flawed man, but, despite the hideous ordeal he endures, he does not buckle. Betrayed by all, he goes to his grave knowing that he stood for something greater than the amalgam of flesh and bone that he was. Its a gender reversal of the torments typically at play in these sorts of films, but the threat of the powerful exploiting faith and fear and committing atrocities of political and financial gain is sound.
So, this weekend, please feel free to enjoy THE LAST WITCH HUNTER. Its plenty fun and Vin Diesel is great in it and, hey, not every witch in it is pure evil. But then, when the popcorn is absorbed and youre safe at home, if youre up for the admittedly emotionally and viscerally exhausting task, go a bit deeper down the truth-steeped rabbit hole and take in these three masterworks
