"Witchcraft" is a comparatively obscure British horror film from 1964 that may be getting some well-deserved latter-day fans, thanks to recent screenings on TCM and this great-looking DVD. This modest but well-done offering from Shepperton Studios almost plays out like a Hatfield & McCoys family feud, but with decidedly supernatural overtones. It seems that modern land development in an area outside London has desecrated the burial plot of the Whitlocks, and before long, Vanessa Whitlock, who was buried alive in the 17th century for witchcraft, is up-and-at-'em to take vengeance on her ancestral enemies, the Laniers. Jack Hedley is quite sturdy in his role as Bill Lanier, the modern-day land developer, and, in a NONembarrassing performance, Lon Chaney, Jr. is also quite fine as Morgan Whitlock, a coven leader. Best of all, perhaps, is Yvette Rees as Vanessa. With not a single line of dialogue, she manages to convey implacable evil very effectively, and her every appearance is a frightening one; my beloved "Psychotronic Encyclopedia" is quite correct in describing her as being "in the Barbara Steele tradition." Director Don Sharp, whose work on the 1963 Hammer film "Kiss of the Vampire" had recently impressed me, here turns in another solid effort, and the film's B&W photography is quite lovely to behold. The picture ends most satisfactorily, I feel, and on a nicely UNsentimental note, with Grandmother Lanier's pronouncement "Born in evil, death in burning" a perfect summation of affairs. Though perhaps not quite as sterling as an earlier British witches-and-devil film, "Horror Hotel" (1960), "Witchcraft" yet reveals itself to be a compact and pleasing affair that does leave a residual chill. Unlike Vanessa, this is one relic whose unearthing should be welcomed....
Review of Witchcraft
