I had read about WITCHCRAFT (1964) for years in anthologies about British horror films but I had never seen it until I purchased this set a few years back. While undeniably low budget, it was definitely a quality example of the less is more school of filmmaking. It also happens to be the last in the all too brief subgenre of British black & white modern day occult thrillers that began with NIGHT/CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957) to be followed by CITY OF THE DEAD/HORROR HOTEL (1960) and then NIGHT OF THE EAGLE/BURN, WITCH, BURN (1962).
It’s also the only one not to have its name changed for American release. Watching it again for my traditional May Day Eve horror movie viewing, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is still as good as the first time I saw it. Although Lon Chaney Jr seems out of his element in this setting, the rest of the British cast is rock solid and Yvette Rees as the resurrected witch is terrifying and she never says a word.
It then occured to me that I might not have watched the second film in the set, DEVILS OF DARKNESS (1965), and as it turned out, I hadn’t. Originally released on a double bill with CURSE OF THE FLY, the third and final installment in that series until Jeff Goldblum came along many years later, DEVILS is lacking in everything that WITCHCRAFT possesses. The color photography is good but not evocative, the script is rather flat and full of inconsistencies, and the performances by mostly unknowns are generally lukewarm.
The principal villain, despite his character’s name, is hardly sinister at all which is a serious handicap. The film does score points for the then contemporary beatnik scene parties (full of “lesbians” who smoke pot) and for a few striking images that linger afterwards. Nevertheless this is not even a poor man’s Hammer offering and it isn’t surprising that Planet, the production company, quickly went out of business. Still it’s a definite curio and along with WITCHCRAFT, this disc is of value to old school horror afficionados.
The Capsule Critic 