Witchfinder General (1968)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Michael Reeves

Writers:

Tom Baker (writer)
Ronald Bassett (novel)

Release Date:

1968 (Norway)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Horror

Tagline:

The Year's Most Violent Film! [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

England is torn in civil strife as the Royalists battle the Parliamentary Party for control. This conflict...

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Niece | Village | England | Burned At The Stake

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Matthew Hopkins
Ian Ogilvy	...	Richard Marshall
Rupert Davies	...	John Lowes
Hilary Heath	...	Sarah Lowes (as Hilary Dwyer)
Robert Russell	...	John Stearne
Nicky Henson	...	Trooper Robert Swallow
Tony Selby	...	Tom Salter
Bernard Kay	...	Fisherman
Godfrey James	...	Webb
Michael Beint	...	Captain Gordon
John Trenaman	...	Trooper Harcourt (as John Treneman)
Bill Maxwell	...	Trooper Gifford
Paul Ferris	...	Paul Clark (as Morris Jar)
Maggie Kimberly	...	Elizabeth Clark
Peter Haigh	...	Lavenham magistrate

Also Known As:

Edgar Allan Poe's Conqueror Worm
Matthew Hopkins: Conqueror Worm (USA) (alternative title)
Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General (USA)
The Conqueror Worm (USA)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2002) | Australia:R | Finland:(Banned) (1972) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Norway:16 (1968) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk, England, UK

Company:

Tigon British Film Productions

Trivia:

On the first day of filming, Vincent Price fell from his horse. Director Michael Reeves refused to see him, hoping that angering Price would help the actor make his character more fierce.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Stearne is chasing Marshall through the fields tracks left by a 20th century mechanical tractor are clearly visible.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[United States Conqueror Worm versions]
Matthew Hopkins: [voiceover] LO! 't is a gala night/Within the lonesome latter years./An angel throng, bewinged, bedight/In veils, and drowned in tears,/Sit in a theatre to see/A play of hopes and fears,/While the orchestra breathes fitfully/The music of the spheres."

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: The Conqueror Worm (1968) (#1.88)" (1981)

Sadistic British Horror

This film is often lumped in with the Edgar Allen Poe series that Vincent Price did in the 1960s. The story actually has little to do with Poe except for a bit of narration at the beginning and end (which I understand didn't exist in the original British version). Naming it "The Conqueror Worm" was also another play toward this being thought of as part of the series. If you would like to see Vincent Price NOT hamming it up for once, playing it pretty straight-forward in fact, this is worth watching. The role is based in a historical figure in Cromwell's Britain but considerable license is taken with the story. The story might leave you feeling a little strange, the ending is a downer even though "the good guys win". The fact that the Director died of a possible suicide/overdose soon after has certainly added to it's cult status. There are no "scares" in the movie to really qualify it as a Horror film, but I will recommend it as one based on subject matter and plain weirdness.