Runtime: 90 minutes
Directed by: Sidney Hayers
Starring: Peter Wyngarde, Janet Blair, Margaret Johnston, Anthony Nicholls, Colin Gordon
From: Independent Artists
In the last horror movie I see for at least the next few days, this one in particular was chosen because I've known of it for awhile and someone a few months ago wanted me to watch the film... I apologize that it's taken me so long. This British film is a pretty good time; note that I saw the American version. The only differences were title (over here it is called Burn, Witch, Burn! The OG title relates to how there are frequent shots of a stone eagle on the college campus where the lead male character works) and there's a new scene at the beginning where Paul Frees casts a spell that protects the viewer. Besides it being an awesome gimmick, most will know his voice as the narrator on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney theme parks.
No surprise to me that this came from two writers known for their works on Twilight Zone episodes: Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. This is like an episode of the show stretched out to 90 minutes. It is masculine logic vs. feminine intuition as a professor that doesn't believe in magic/superstition is not happy when he discovers his wife has used witchcraft to both protect them and give them prosperity. He thinks she is “a hysterical woman” (which will get people riled up now) so all those charms are destroyed. Much to my amusement, immediately afterwards is when s*** goes bad for them. It was a nice twist to see "the dark arts" be used for both good and evil here, not to mention seeing the man eventually act hysterical himself.
The movie does take its time yet the plot was never-dull to my tastes. Peter Wyngarde was pretty good considering he wasn't the first choice-we could have had either Peter Cushing or Peter Finch if the cards had been right-and he mainly did this so he could afford a luxury car. However, it was Janet Blair as the witchy wife who was the real highlight with her performance. While more psychological than anything else, there are also more literal scares and some arresting images that are well-filmed, leading to a movie that is rather dark yet still had some amusing bits. Plus, it has a great macabre ending. I imagine this will pair well w/ either The City of the Dead (which I have seen) or Night of the Demon (i.e. Curse of the Demon; I haven't watched that but at the very latest that will be changed come October).
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