Witchfinder General (1968) Review

Men sometimes have strange motives for the things they do.- Matthew Hopkins

In 1644, Matthew Hopkins and his assistant John Stearne made their way across East Anglia. Their goal was to rid the region of witchcraft. The thing is, they had no authorization from the British government. During 1644 and 1647, England saw a rise in witch trials, which caused the deaths of over 300 people. The majority were women.

Three centuries later, author Ronald Bassett penned a fictionalized account of these events. His novel, "The Witchfinder General", was released in 1966. One year later, a 24-year-old up-and-coming director, Michael Reeves, had finished his second film, The Sorcerers. Head of Tigon Productions, Tony Tenser, approached him to direct the adaptation, in which stars one of the most acclaimed actors of the horror genre.

Vincent Price was a name I was already familiar with, but it was the Edgar Allan Poe films by director Roger Corman that got me into his work as an actor. I’ve loved those films since I was fourteen years old due to my near obsession with the writer’s literary career. No matter how campy or over the top Price can be, I always found his onscreen presence magnetizing. One of my favorite Poe stories is The Tomb of Ligeia.  In the film, Price plays suave Verden Fell, who mourns and fears the spirit of his deceased wife, Ligeia. It would be his last collab with Corman, playing one of Poe’s famous protagonists. Three years after the film's release, Price would find himself in another role. One so different and sinister from all others he’s done in

Witchfinder General.

What would be Michael Reeve’s third and final film is the first in what critic Mark Gattis calls the Folk Horror trinity. The film also inspired Tigon Productions to get Piers Haggard's Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) to be made in the same effect. Not every folk horror film has to contain supernatural elements in their story. Blood on Satan’s Claw features young teens making sacrifices at a rundown church in the name of the devil. Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man (1973) dives into the festive pagan lifestyle on Summerisle. Michael Reeves deviates from the spiritual realm

entirely.

Instead, he explores the twisted horrors of the human condition. The Witchfinder General is a wonderfully crafted, sadistic, horrifying masterpiece.

The pre-credits scene sets the tone for the entire film. It’s an opening shot of the fields where a man is nailing the last bits and bolts on the gallows. Off in the distance, we hear chilling screams from a hysterical woman. Local villagers mock and drag her to her execution spot as her "rites" are read to her. Her cries drown out all the other voices present. We learn she's accused of performing acts of witchcraft. The executioner kicks the chair beneath her as she hangs in still death. Just a few feet away from the scene is a stoic,

Darkly clad Matthew Hopkins riding on horseback.

From here, plot-wise, the story is fairly straightforward. It’s the 17th century. England is in the middle of a civil war between Parliament and King Cromwell (Patrick Wymark). Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) and his assistant John  Stearne (Robert Russell) travel across rural East Anglia to force confessions, use heinous torture, and hold executions of people accused of occult practices on behalf of the British government. For their services, they charge local magistrates, but also do this in exchange for other pleasures.

Richard Marshall (Ian Ogvily) is a young Roundhead soldier serving in King Cromwell's army. He returns to Suffolk, England, to visit his beautiful fiancée Sarah (Hilary Dwyer,) and her clerical uncle, John Lowe (Rupert Davies). Lowe Marshall is to take Sarah out of town for her safety. He agrees but doesn't understand why. Still, he promises to protect her. One day, Hopkins arrests Lowe under suspicion of being a witch. Sarah agrees to give Hopkins sexual favors to get him to spare her Uncle’s life. While Hopkins leaves town for business, Stearne brutally rapes Sarah. Hopkins hears of this and then has Lowe tortured and executed. When Marshall finds out about the mass witch hunts and Sarah's turmoil, he vows to kill Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne at all costs.

Vincent Price's portrayal of Matthew Hopkins terrifies me to the core. However, I noticed that every time I watch him, the angrier I get. Underneath the calm and collected exterior is a man so undeniably cruel. Hopkins hides behind the facade of a man placed in high authority who is only carrying out his so-called "godly" duty. With power and status, he takes advantage of a war-torn region and the people who suffer from it for personal gain. John Stearne is an absolute sadist. He's more open about his affections for torture and rape than Hopkins. Their conversation, minutes into the film, shows their dynamic clearly. Stearne wants to be seen as an equal, but that never happens. When Stearne tries to call Hopkins by his first nam,e Hopkins quickly rebukes him. The moment he takes the opportunity to rape Sarah is the moment Stearne reveals how jealous he is of Hopkins. There are times when I watched this and saw they were one in the same. It’s as if Stearne's aggressiveness is what’s really inside the heart of Matthew Hopkins. Whenever Stearne gleefully tortures his victims, I wondered, “What if John Stearne's the real witchfinder?" Either way, both men are equally vile, opportunisti,c and misogynistic.

Whether Stearne had raped Sarah or not, I think Hopkins would have killed her Uncle anyway. Yet his decision to kill him afterward shows he sees Sarah as nothing more than a woman he could use and dispose of. In his eyes, she’s no different than the women he accuses of playing with the devil. Though Hopkins may not display as much physical hostility towards women, when he describes his tactics as “a fitting end to the foul godliness of womanhood,”  his misogyny is glaring. Hopkins and Stearne's attitudes towards women accurately echo the kind that existed during real-life witch trials in 17th-century Europe, as well as those that took place in Salem, Massachusetts.

Richard Marshall is an admirable Roundhead soldier. He's caught between protecting the woman he loves, fulfilling his military duty, and his overwhelming desire for revenge towards Hopkins and Stearne. From the start, he’s set up to be the hero. You want to root for him. Though he's determined to keep his lady safe, he's unable to do so completely. The only thing he has control over is his actions. His inability to stop himself from dropping to Hopkins’ and Stearne’s level becomes his downfall. After he and Sarah have an impromptu wedding ceremony, she goes to hug him goodbye, but he slowly pushes her off. He's almost too blind by his need to get back at the men who killed her uncle to ensure her safety. 

Marshall strong will to kill these men is understandable, but the film brilliantly examines why revenge may not always be worth it in the end.

 Marshall's powerful 5-word sentence of “you took him from me!” shows how deprived our soldier becomes. Whereas Sarah automatically snaps. The film's shocking climax is about as chilling as Sarah’s blood-curdling screams.

One of Folk horror’s main ingredients is rural landscape. Not just for setting, but to enhance the tone and mood of the film. As I said before, there’s usually a supernatural or some kind of occult imagery. In this case, the 17th-century setting is the only “folk” aspect of this movie, other than the music! We see beautiful shots of green pastures, dark woods, and the traditional villages in Suffolk, England. Reeves doesn’t depict any character performing acts of witchcraft on screen. Instead, we get a startling contrast with the tranquil picture of East Anglia serving as the backdrop for the bloodshed tainting its fields. 

Though the film isn’t particularly gory compared to today's standards, Reeves doesn’t pull back with copious amounts of vicious violence and torture.

 It's uncomfortable to watch, even for someone like me who has seen quite a bit of violent films. For this folk horror film, the scare factor isn’t the witchcraft. The nightmare is about a broken justice system, the hypocrisy and deception by those who claim they’re setting things right in the eyes of God or their government, and the depravity of humankind itself.

Reeve’s period piece is a ruthless rollercoaster. The making of the film was even more so. Playing the titular character did not come easily for Vincent Price because Reeves didn't want the actor at all. He had plans to cast actor Donald Pleasence for the role of Matthew Hopkins. However, the studios and American International Pictures (AIP) wanted Price instead because he was already a star. Throughout the shoot, the ambitious director badgered the heck out of Price. Reeves wanted him to lose the overacting and to give him the solid, cold-hearted performance he wanted.

If you are a fan of this film, you may have heard the story of probably one of the best conversations between these two men, where Price said,“I’ve starred in 30 films. What have you done?” Reeves replied, “I made three great ones.” Well, all Reeve’s hostility towards Price paid off. The legendary horror actor relented once he saw the finished product and the two made amends. Long after his death, Vincent Price's frightening performance as Matthew Hopkins remains Price's best onscreen role.  

The drama didn’t end on set. It followed into the editing room too. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) significantly cut the film due to its graphic content before it was released in the UK. For the U.S release, American International Pictures wanted to cash in on Price's success with Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films. Despite the movie having nothing to do with the author's work at all, the movie title was changed to The Conqueror Worm for American viewers. This version includes Price reciting parts of the poem. Personally, you will never catch me calling this movie the latter. Ever.  

At the age of 25, Michael Reeves passed away from a drug overdose shortly after the film's release. Out of all his movies, Witchfinder General remains his finest piece. Since his death, this movie maintains its cult status. Today, it's considered to be one of Britain's greatest horror films ever made. If Reeves was able to make such a fantastic, hard-hitting film as Witchfinder General, we can only imagine how incredible his career would have been with the level of creative talent and drive he possessed.

Music is such a vital factor of folk horror, it would be remiss if I didn't talk about Paul Ferris's sweepingly haunting score for Witchfinder General. Ferris, who worked on Reeve's The She-Beast (1966) and The Sorcerers (1967), creates a romantic, melancholic orchestral sound combined with traditional folk instruments. The score's dramatic drum beats and swift melodies of horns ramp up the tension. The opening theme resonates so deeply as it is the perfect introduction to an exploitation horror film. The scenes where Richard Marshall rides across the majestic fields of East Anglia are some parts where Ferris's composition truly shines. 

Michael Reeve's Witchfinder General is a shockingly realistic and painful picture of man's sinful nature. The film's graphic violence, breathtaking rural landscape, and powerful performances influenced many folk horror films that followed. Horror legend Vincent Price is exceptional as the most menacing, heartless witch hunter of 17th-century Europe. If you are brave enough to give this film a shot, I promise you won't regret it.