Every lover of film has had a pivotal film experience, the movie that made such an impact on them that they have never forgotten it. For me WITCHFINDER GENERAL is that film. I first saw it in 1969 as THE CONQUERER WORM (AIP’s American release title designed to cash in on the Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe series although the movie was independently made and has nothing to do with Poe).
The movie ratings system had just been introduced and this film was rated M for mature audiences, (later GP then PG). The film was a complete shock to the system. It was the first time I had seen nudity/lovemaking in a movie and the violence was painful, ugly. And deeply misogynistic. Vincent Price (who hated making the film) was cold and hard without a trace of his usual mannerisms. To top it all off there was no semblance of a happy ending.
I have seen just about everything in the movies since then but seeing WITCHFINDER nearly 50 years later I’m amazed at how intense and disturbing it still is. The current releases (Blu-ray and DVD) feature the original director’s cut and they restore the original soundtrack which was not available in America due to copyright reasons. For the record WITCHFINDER GENERAL now earns an R rating.
Made for around $300,000, WITCHFINDER was a box office success in England, Europe and in the U.S. This resulted in a number of “hex”ploitation films trying to duplicate its success. There was the infamous MARK OF THE DEVIL, THE BLOODY JUDGE with Christopher Lee, the Czech made WITCHHAMMER, and AIP’s own CRY OF THE BANSHEE again with Vincent Price. All were made 2 years later in 1970.
The Capsule Critic 