Witchfinder General

Funnily enough I was actually hoping to watch 'Festen', when I opened the DVD case from the library it instead had the 'Witchfinder General' disc. Luckily WG is a film that I was looking to watch at some point, and should be glad it wasn't Bad Boys 2. That would have been irritating.

Witchfinder General is a 1968 psychological horror directed by Michael Reeves. I'm not totally confident, but I think it may have been part of the Hammer Horror series popular in the UK in this period. It certainly has links to the series anyway, as Vincent Price stars as Matthew Hopkins. The film is quite an oddity; a strange mix of serious historical drama and somewhat schlocky B-movie horror. If I was to draw comparisons between any other films, I would say Robin Hardy's 'The Wicker Man', released a few years later comes to mind. It has the same themes of religious fanaticism and horror, and similarly worked with a low budget. Of course, 'The Wicker Man' is obviously a much finer film and is pretty much flawless. WG stands up pretty well as a psychological horror today, though it does betray it's low budget limitations in a few minor gaffes, and the quality of the image is sometimes tarnished.

The story focuses on Hopkins and his chief torturer's campaign against a priest and his young nephew, who are accused of idolatory and conspiring with the devil. In one of the early scenes, a gathering of villagers tell of unholy garments and candles used by the priest. The priest is dunked in his castle moat, in which he swims, leading him to be hanged as a witch. His nephew allows herself to be seduced by Hopkins in order to stop her uncle's death, but to no avail. Reeves' film does well to emphasise Hopkin's pursuit of sex, power and money.

The dramatic conflict comes in the form of Anthony Hopkins (in an early role) playing a heroic Roundhead soldier. Betrothed to the priest's nephew, he engages in bloodthirsty pursuit of Hopkins and his henchman. The film has well choreographed fights, and a number of breathless horseback chases. The film presents quite a simplistic portrayal of the evil Hopkins and the noble Roundhead.

On the one hand the film is coherent and exciting, the burnings and hangings horrific. Vincent Price is surprisingly subtle in his portrayal of Hopkins, and the film is nicely shot in the rural (Norfolk?) countryside, with echoes of Constable's paintings. On the other hand, it only goes surface deep in its examinations of Matthew Hopkins and the phenomenon of witch hunting in that period. There are only little snippets of social and political hysteria in the film, leaving the viewer wanting. On viewing this film it struck me that a really strong piece of work could be made from the Matthew Hopkins saga. Reeves' work is an effective piece of entertainment horror, yet there is still opportunity of a serious examination of this period in history.

7/10