Director: Michael Reeves
Year: 1968
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General; The Conqueror Worm
Genre: Witchcraft
Plot:
With a fear of witches among the local peasants, a vengeful witch hunter and his assistant travel to a remote village supposedly steeped in witchcraft, and once a group of soldiers learns of their treacherous behavior set out to hunt them down and bring them to justice.
Review:
There is a lot that really impresses in here. One of the main features involved here is the fact that the film is, for the most part, historically accurate in what happens. The characters, the towns, the accusations, and the tortures and executions are all real-life scenarios and events that make what happens all the more terrifying, knowing that what happened to the people in the film was actually done in real life. Watching the torture scenes where people are chained to a rock wall, stabbed and sliced with knives or constantly slapped around until a confession is heard, dumping the bodies into a river to see if they sink or swim, and adjusting the punishment according to what happened are extremely brutal and uncompromising, which makes them all the more terrifying when added to the realistic attitude and feel to the film.
The realism extends beyond the violence, as the sets and settings are really impressive, with the towns realistically captured and giving off an air of menace and foreboding that really works to the film's advantage. The rural villages and countryside are even better, as the wide-open spaces and large plains make them all the more spectacular and a real treat for the eyes. It also extends beyond that, as Price has never been more evil, and he's never been this campy. You are never given the impression that you are supposed to like him or celebrate his acts, and this is one factor that makes the movie work. It's a great performance that really enlivens the proceedings and is an absolute joy to watch. This really isn't that bad of a film without a lot to dislike, but what's there is pretty big.
The biggest issue is that the film itself doesn't seem as gory and violent as the reputation suggests. Returning to its grim tone and torturous violence today seems like a humdrum exercise, not because it has lost its power, but because the model it ushers in is a worn-out, overused feel to those of us with a passing interest in what happened. The tortures mainly consist of being slapped around until a confession, and then the real torture begins, but the fact that most of the torture time is spent with the slapping technique leaves the feeling that it's more brutal in reputation than in practice. It also wastes a great opportunity by never concerning itself with any sociological or historical analysis of what led to the conditions under which the witch-hunts occurred. It would've been a lot more interesting had the film actually done the trials and accusations to really amp up the rest of the hypocrisy and corruption present. That would've added to the feeling of total dire that the film exudes, and it is a shame that it wasn't done in that manner. All in all, it's not bad but does feature a few big flaws.
Overview: ****/5
An overall impressive witch-torture period film, this one comes across incredibly well, with the majority of the positives holding this up against the few minor negatives. Those with an appreciation for this era of the genre, who are curious about it, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like here, while those turned off by its issues will want to heed caution.
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