Witchfinder General(1968).England is torn in civil strife as the Royalists battle the Parliamentary Party for control. This conflict distracts people from rational thought and allows unscrupulous men to gain local power by exploiting village superstitions. One of these men is Matthew Hopkins, who tours the land offering his services as a persecutor of witches. Aided by his sadistic accomplice John Stearne, he travels from city to city and wrenches confessions from "witches" in order to line his pockets and gain sexual favors. When Hopkins persecutes a priest, he incurs the wrath of Richard Marshall, who is engaged to the priest's niece. Risking treason by leaving his military duties, Marshall relentlessly pursues the evil Hopkins and his minion Stearne. Written byEd Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>... Synopsis Witchfinder General(1968)
Movie Title: Witchfinder General(1968)
Run Time: 86 min
Rating: 6.8 / 10
Genres: Drama |History |Horror
Release Date: May 1968 (UK)
Director: Michael Reeves
Writer: Tom Baker ,Michael Reeves , ... and other credits
Actor: Vincent Price,Ian Ogilvy,Rupert Davies
A stunning low budget film that seems to transend it's limited budget. For once, Price doesn't ham it up and Ogilvy gets to go deeper with his old Etonian dashing hero persona. There is genuine horror from the first scene of a woman being burned, Hopkins' sidekick performing emergency surgery on himself and the feeling of a people opressed and cornered on all sides by war and religious panic. A special mention must go to a man who I think is the most underrated cinematographer in the movies: John Coquillon, who makes the scenery haunting yet beautiful like a Constable painting.
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