The Witches (1966)
Genre: Horror
Duration: 90 minuten
Alternative title: The Devil's Own
Country:
United Kingdom
Directed by: Cyril Frankel
Stars: Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh and Alec McCowen
IMDb score:
5,8 (3.439)
Releasedate: 21 November 1966
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
The Witches plot
"A STRANGER IN A TOWN THAT HAS LOST ITS MIND ...IF SHE'S NOT CAREFUL, SHE MAY LOSE HER'S TOO!"
After a nervous breakdown, an English teacher in Africa is treated by a local witch doctor. Afterwards, she returns to her native country and starts teaching again in a private school. Everything goes well at first, until the locals start telling strange stories about the city. And then she realizes that that place is a place of witchcraft and that they plan to sacrifice one of her students in a ritual.
Actors and actresses
Gwen Mayfield
Stephanie Bax
Alan Bax
Sally Benson
Linda Rigg
Dowsett
Valerie Creek
Granny Rigg
Bob Curd
Dr. Wallis
Reviews & comments
Richard_Voorhees
-
- 2311 messages
- 2135 votes
One of the Hammer Horrors I hadn't seen yet, but had been curious about for a while.
Joan Fontaine plays a convincing lead. The switch from Africa to the über British countryside is a big one, but it works. They also know how to build up the tension. At first everything seems to be normal in the town, but when Fontaine gets a nasty report of child abuse a ball starts rolling.
One mysterious event follows another and Fontaine begins to suspect that they are practicing witchcraft. But just when she begins to know too much, her memory is erased and after a strange turn of events, she arrives at what should have been the film's climax.
Unfortunately, that climax doesn't come out well. The cult leader's ridiculous outfit is more likely to make you laugh. A lot of the dances and twists that people perform during the rite are overdone. And if that wasn't enough, the makers also decided to add annoying bells and some rattle thing (which you see a woman with a straight face playing once on screen) in the accompaniment music. The drums and exciting violins would have been much more effective without those additions.
Overall, 'The Witches' isn't a bad movie, but it's a shame about the ending.
Translated from Dutch · View original
wendyvortex
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- 5127 messages
- 7215 votes
Pretty nice looking Hammer horror with a slowly building up but intriguing first half in which Joan Fontaine, after a traumatic experience in Africa, starts teaching in a very quiet small English village, but gradually notices that there may be a witch coven at work. The second half occasionally goes wild with amnesia, devices and crazy ceremonies. But it doesn't really get any worse than that. Not the best Hammer ever produced, but one of their nice attempts at a modern horror story (modern before 1966 at least).
Translated from Dutch · View original
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