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Witchfinder General (1968) More at IMDb Pro »

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99 comments in total

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22 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Probably not as gruesome as the real thing, but gruesome enough., 27 October 2002
Author: Troy Ros (Rastacat1@hotmail.com) from Northfield, MN

Matthew Hopkins was a self proclaimed Witchfinder who started his career in 1644 in Essex, England. In a three year career he is estimated to have killed between 200 and 400 "witches". The Witchfinder General (The Conqueror Worm) is a movie based on his success as a prosecutor of witches.

Witchfinder General is an interesting movie in that it is part horror, part melodrama, part historical epic. Vincent Price has one of his finest and most effective roles ever as Matthew Hopkins in this 1968 British Classic. The movie was renamed The Conqueror Worm for U.S. audiences to try and take advantage of Price's fame from Roger Corman's Edgar Allen Poe inspired series of movies. Except for reading part of the poem The Conqueror Worm during the ending credits, the movie has nothing to do with Poe.

The basic story is common enough for this sub-genre of horror movies: There is an abusive official who accuses and prosecutes alleged witches for his own personal gain and personal power trips. There are two other fine British films from this time period that deal with the same subject matter, The Devils by Kurt Russell and Mark of the Devil starring Herbert Lom. All three are well made and effective, but Witchfinder General is the darkest of the bunch. The tortures are all brutal and unnerving to watch and there is a lot of screaming in this movie. Price plays Hopkins as overbearing and cold bloodedly cruel. He allows a woman to submit to him sexually to prevent someone from being killed, then tortures and murders the guy anyway, and then later has her tortured and murdered for being a witch. What a guy!

The director of this movie was the young and upcoming Michael Reeves who unfortunately committed suicide in 1969, not long after this movie was released. There was a well known feud of sorts between Reeves and the star, Vincent Price. At one point Price is reputed to have said to the 25 year old director: "I have made over 70 films, what have you done?" with a reply from Reeves: "I have made three good ones". Perhaps the tension between director and star helped to make this the dark and humorless film that it is. Even 34 years after it's release, it still holds up as a beautifully made movie that hardly looks of feels dated at all. The period movies that Price was making with Roger Corman a few years before this film was made, while still excellent in many respects, are obviously a product of the 60's.

Unfortunately this movie has not been released in the U.S. on dvd. There is a British release that includes a documentary on Michael Reeves, but for now in America all we have is the MGM midnight movie video release. This film also appears on AMC now and again, and in fact, I just watched it on that channel yesterday.

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21 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
A very interesting historical thriller with quite possibly Vincent Price's finest performance., 24 February 2003
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

I had been wanting to see 'Witchfinder General' for years, and I must say it almost lives up to its reputation. The version I watched was the restored uncut one, and while I thought the film had one or two slight flaws (mainly with the script), it is very, very good. This was the third and final movie directed by Michael Reeves, who sadly died of a drug overdose a year after it was released while still in his mid twenties. 'Witchfinder General' certainly shows a lot of promise, and is very well made on what I imagine was a fairly modest budget. Many describe it as a horror movie, but I think thriller is a more apt term. While it has some brutal and violent moments, and it does concern witches, there is no supernatural theme. It is similar in many ways to the underrated 'Mark Of The Devil' and Jess Franco's disappointing 'The Bloody Judge', two movies released after this one, and undoubtedly influenced by it. Horror legend Vincent Price clashed with Reeves on set with the latter telling him not to ham it up. Price took offence at this but obviously heeded the advice, and his performance here is arguably the best of his career. Price is brilliant throughout, and the supporting cast are all pretty good, especially Reeves regular Ian Ogilvy, and Robert Russell as Price's surly assistant, and there's a good cameo from Patrick Wymark ('Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun') as Cromwell. 'Witchfinder General' is a very good film which deserves to be seen by a wider audience, and Michael Reeves death is a tragedy for all movie lovers.

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17 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Vincent Price - what a brilliant talent, 21 February 2003

Author: bruce-j-patience from Melbourne , Australia

A powerful and unsettling film which is definitely not for the weak - kneed. Not easy to watch in some parts. But the mid 17th century was a turbulent time in British history with a civil war raging and the foul menace of devil worship festering throughout the countryside (dear, oh dear ... must be my Puritan ancestors calling to me!)

All the players do a fine job. Although, Uncle "Vinnie" is, of course, the stand-out performer. No other actor was able to portray genuine evil as effectively as Vincent Price. There's no high camp fooling around in this one. What a brilliant talent he was.

The music in this picture also deserves a special mention, particularly the opening theme which magnificently recreates an appropriate 17th century mood. Michael Reeves sheer production skill overcame the limitations of what was obviously a tight budget.

I personally believe that the 1960s was the golden era of English cinema and television. Check the internet for extensive biographical information on the real Matthew 'Opkins - WITCHFINDER GENERAL.

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Genuine horror, from a film that's NOT a horror film!, 24 May 2002
Author: hesketh27 from Southport Lancashire Uk

I have a copy of Witchfinder General from many years ago. Recently, whilst re-organising my collection, I happened upon it and watched it once more. This film still manages to induce general feelings of horror on account of its violence, even though it is not really a 'horror' film as such. Watch it for its superb cinematography which lends it an appearance of freshness that belies its 35 years. It still looks as if it could have been made yesterday. Some of the more violent scenes will make you squirm. The cruelty of the period portrayed can only be imagined and the cheapness of life comes across as truly shocking. Vincent Price is excellent as Hopkins (though maybe a bit 'mature' to portray him, since he was witchfinding in his late twenties and died in his early thirties). To think that this evil man really existed and operated unchecked for several years leaves one cold. A minor masterpiece that all lovers of the macabre should enjoy.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Simply a great film, 25 April 2003
Author: cfisanick from Western Pennsylvania

Most folks have already enthusiastically praised "Witchfinder General" as a masterpiece, so I have little to add in agreement. It truly is a great film because it is about important ideas--a deep, dark, existential look into the worst of the human condition. John Coquillon's cinematography is about as good as it gets, and Michael Reeves's direction is superb. But what really sets this apart is Vincent Price's performance. It is easy to overplay villainy, lapsing into parody, but Price is so calm and unaffected here that he is the very essence of pure evil incarnate, an evil corruptly justified by misguided ideals. This is a powerful film, not only relevant as a historical depiction, but also as a morality play for events in the world today. It may be cliche to say, but you'll think about "Witchfinder General" for as long as you think about movies.

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8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
witch hunts, 25 October 2005

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

Like "The Devils", "Witchfinder General" (also called "The Conqueror Worm") is likely to disturb a lot of people through it's portrayals of witch hunts. This one portrays England during its civil war in the 1640s. With the people paranoid enough to accept anyone, puritan Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) goes around coercing witchcraft confessions out of women, and summarily executing them in the most vicious ways possible.

Things get ugly when Hopkins targets priest John Lowes (Rupert Davies). You see, Lowes' niece Sarah (Hilary Dwyer) is engaged to Cromwell soldier Richard Marshall (Ian Ogilvy). And Marshall may have a heart of gold, but he will go to any length to protect his beloved. And I mean ANY LENGTH.

Vincent Price was always a trustworthy horror star, and this movie doesn't disappoint. It's certainly worth seeing, but you might want to avoid it if you have a weak stomach.

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
The best minor classic?, 27 December 2003

Author: ubercommando from London

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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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Sadistic British Horror, 27 May 2001
Author: Schlockmeister from Midnight Movie Land

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.

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
When evil came to the southeast, 24 May 2006

Author: VicTheDaddy from London

I have only ever seen the cut version of this film,so i cant comment on it being gory or frightening.Its a very interesting story nonetheless and a very true one.No one actually knows what really happened to Matthew Hopkins,we would love to believe he was murdered as he really was such an evil man,he terrorised all of Essex and all of East Anglia.He just walked into villages and towns promising to rid them of their witches for large amounts of money,which he was paid.Money was his real motive.He also had some old hag as his helper,i cant remember her name,but she was just as evil.Between them they made trumped up charges against hundreds of people,men as well as women,although usually the old and vulnerable,any old woman who lived on her own and owned a black cat,would be a target.The worst place Matthew Hopkins left his legacy was in Manningtree a pretty little town,just outside of Colchester in Essex.Many locals claim Manningtree to be haunted by the spirits of his victims,they often hold ghost walks there, some even claim he is there in spirit.The witchfinder General has always been common folklore in East Anglia and Essex and i believe now hes known all over Britain,even though he never worked out of the South East of England.Because this is a true story you could never call this a horror film,it is more of a history film,but then i saw the cut version.Its a shame Britain doesn't still make films like this,instead of the countless nitty gritty depressing kitchen sink dramas,about prostitution and drugs and bad housing and abortions,and teenage pregnancies,i could go on but I'm already feeling depressed.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Shocking and impacting – an average narrative but a great central theme, strong direction and strong performances, 2 April 2006
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

With England in a civil war, Captain Richard Marshall is just one of many soldiers earning his money killing the Royalist rebels. Home from service briefly, Marshall stays with a priest and his wife-to-be Sarah Lowes but soon heads off. On his way out of the area he meets lawyer Matthew Hopkins, who has been called in by locals to help with some matters. Thinking nothing Marshall rides on having directed Hopkins correctly but only later he learns that Hopkins is more a witch-hunter than a lawyer and that the very "devil" that he has gone to town to unmask is none other than Lowes.

Although I was familiar with the title I had neither heard anything good or bad about this film or ever managed to see it myself. With a recent screening on late night television in the UK I decided to give it a twirl and found much to like from the very opening credits where a hung woman gives way to a title credits sequence of wonderfully captured faces in various states of pain and/or terror. The imaginative air to these visuals continues even as the film settles down to deliver the story and the whole affair has a great colour and hue to it, using some visual effects to improve some shots. Reeves (who, at 23, probably never expected this to be his last film) uses the English countryside to great effect and summons up a great sense of period as well as contrasting it powerfully with the fear and violence of Hopkins' deeds.

The plot threatens to be a poor device to show this history in gory detail but generally it works well enough because it makes the characters and the actions as important as the specific story involving Marshall. This moves along well but generally it is Hopkins and his quest that holds the interest because it is essentially evil and cruel – factors that the film brings out very well while observing the slight touch of glee from Hopkins that accompanies the cruel deaths. This is greatly helped by a superbly cruel turn from Price who dominates the film and makes his scenes the best. Ogilvy has a lesser role but is still very good despite not having the material given to Price. Support from Russell, Heath and others is mostly good apart from one or two bum notes in small areas – the victims are convincing which was important to make the horrors convincing.

Overall an impacting little film that has a basic plot but greatly benefits from the cruelty of the piece, strong direction and good performances led by a great Price. Dated a touch but still quite shocking, interesting and worth seeing.

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