The Sorcerers (1967)

Director:

Michael Reeves

Writers:

Michael Reeves (screenplay) and
Tom Baker (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

November 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Boris Karloff He Turns Them On...He Turns Them Off...to live...love...die or KILL!

Plot:

The great hypnotist Professor Montserrat has developed a technique for controlling the minds, and sharing the sensations...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Prof. Marcus Monserrat
Catherine Lacey	...	Estelle Monserrat
Elizabeth Ercy	...	Nicole
Ian Ogilvy	...	Mike Roscoe
Victor Henry	...	Alan
Sally Sheridan	...	Laura Ladd (as Dani Sheridan)
Alf Joint	...	Ron, the mechanic
Meier Tzelniker	...	The Jewish Baker
Gerald Campion	...	Customer in China Shop
Susan George	...	Audrey Woods
Ivor Dean	...	Insp. Matalon
Peter Fraser	...	Detective George
Martin Terry	...	Tobacconist
Bill Barnsley	...	Constable in Fur Store
Maureen Booth	...	Dancer (as Maureen Boothe)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Toni Daly	...	Vocalist (uncredited)
Arnold L. Miller	...	Taxi driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Reeves

Writing credits
Michael Reeves		(screenplay) and
Tom Baker		(screenplay)
John Burke		(idea)

Produced by
Patrick Curtis	....	producer
Arnold L. Miller	....	executive producer
Tony Tenser	....	producer
Michael Reeves	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Paul Ferris

Cinematography by
Stanley A. Long		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Susan Michie
David Woodward
Ralph Sheldon		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Tony Curtis

Makeup Department
Geoffrey Rodway	....	makeup artist (as Geoff Rodway)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Keith Wilkinson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jack Palmer	....	construction manager

Sound Department
Ken Osborne	....	sound mixer
Mike Payne	....	boom operator

Stunts
Jack Silk	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Maurice Corcoran	....	gaffer
Don Lord	....	camera assistant
John Mantell	....	camera operator
Gordon Thornton	....	camera assistant

Music Department
Paul Ferris	....	conductor

Other crew
Sheila Miller	....	production secretary
Doreen Soan	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Curtwel Productions (as A Tony Tenser-Curtwel-Global Production)
• Global (as A Tony Tenser-Curtwel-Global Production)
• Tigon

Distributors

• Tigon Film Distributors (1967) (UK) (theatrical)
• Allied Artists Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• International Film Distributors (1967) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Metrodome Distribution (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Millennium Storm (2005) (Italy) (video)
• Prism Leisure Corporation (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Video for Pleasure (VFP) (1984) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2012) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) (2002) (2003) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated | Spain:13 | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 | UK:15 (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

West London Studios, London, England, UK

Company:

Curtwel Productions

Trivia:

Filming began January 16 1967, Boris Karloff would next journey to Madrid to work on "Cauldron of Blood".

Movie Connections:

Featured in "British Film Forever: Magic, Murder and Monsters: The Story of British Horror and Fantasy (#1.5)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Nothing

THE SORCERERS (Michael Reeves, 1967) **1/2

Interesting British horror with sci-fi overtones (the premise concerns hypnotism, which leads to a string of murders): basically, a belated follow-up to star Boris Karloff's myriad mad scientist roles of the 30s and 40s! Still, he apparently resisted this angle of the script and worked with writer-director Reeves to give his character greater sympathy!

Both he and co-star Catherine Lacey are wonderful - but while Karloff delivers a dignified and understated performance, she tends towards hamminess (being the more overtly villainous of the two) but still emerges as equally effective. Ian Ogilvy (star of all 3 films Reeves directed!) is a brooding and mod 'monster'; throughout the course of the film, he interacts with three attractive girls (two of whom eventually end up dead!) - leading lady Elizabeth Ercy, ex-flame Susan George and pop singer Dani Sheridan.

Despite the film's low-budget - and the soft, scratched print utilized for the transfer - its hip Swinging Sixties look provides some definite eye candy (and not just girls in mini-skirts!), particularly during the hallucinatory if low-key experiment in which Ogilvy is an unwitting guinea pig. Paul Ferris' score, including a couple of tunes (though the flat audio on the DVD doesn't really do them justice!), is pretty good. The climax - involving a chase scene in which Ogilvy is pursued by a police car (and featuring Ivor Dean as a vaguely nonplussed, pipe-smoking Inspector) - is terrific, if slightly confusing for, while it's been shown that Lacey has greater control over Ogilvy, suddenly the situation is reversed somehow and Karloff deliberately wills the boy - and the two 'sorcerers' with him - to a fiery death!