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IMDbPro

The Witches

  • 19661966
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
3K
YOUR RATING
The Witches (1966)
Home Video Trailer from Anchor Bay Entertainment
Play trailer2:14
1 Video
58 Photos
Horror
Following a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well.Following a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well.Following a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well.
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
3K
YOUR RATING
    • Cyril Frankel
    • Nigel Kneale(screenplay)
    • Norah Lofts(novel "The Devil's Own")
  • Stars
    • Joan Fontaine
    • Kay Walsh
    • Alec McCowen
    • Cyril Frankel
    • Nigel Kneale(screenplay)
    • Norah Lofts(novel "The Devil's Own")
  • Stars
    • Joan Fontaine
    • Kay Walsh
    • Alec McCowen
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 66User reviews
    • 48Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The Witches (1967)
    Trailer 2:14
    Watch The Witches (1967)

    Photos58

    The Witches (1966)
    The Witches (1966)
    The Witches (1966)
    The Witches (1966)
    Ingrid Boulting and Kay Walsh in The Witches (1966)
    Ingrid Boulting, Michele Dotrice, and Kay Walsh in The Witches (1966)
    Joan Fontaine and Ingrid Boulting in The Witches (1966)
    Kay Walsh in The Witches (1966)
    Leonard Rossiter in The Witches (1966)
    Joan Fontaine and Ingrid Boulting in The Witches (1966)
    Joan Fontaine and Ann Bell in The Witches (1966)
    Michele Dotrice in The Witches (1966)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Joan Fontaine
    Joan Fontaine
    • Gwen Mayfield
    Kay Walsh
    Kay Walsh
    • Stephanie Bax
    Alec McCowen
    Alec McCowen
    • Alan Bax
    Ann Bell
    Ann Bell
    • Sally Benson
    Ingrid Boulting
    Ingrid Boulting
    • Linda Rigg
    • (as Ingrid Brett)
    John Collin
    John Collin
    • Dowsett
    Michele Dotrice
    Michele Dotrice
    • Valerie Creek
    Gwen Ffrangcon Davies
    Gwen Ffrangcon Davies
    • Granny Rigg
    • (as Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies)
    Duncan Lamont
    Duncan Lamont
    • Bob Curd
    Leonard Rossiter
    Leonard Rossiter
    • Dr. Wallis
    Martin Stephens
    Martin Stephens
    • Ronnie Dowsett
    Carmel McSharry
    • Mrs. Dowsett
    Viola Keats
    • Mrs. Curd
    Shelagh Fraser
    Shelagh Fraser
    • Mrs. Creek
    Bryan Marshall
    Bryan Marshall
    • Tom
    Yemi Goodman Ajibade
    • Mark
    • (uncredited)
    Kitty Atwood
    • Mrs. McDowall
    • (uncredited)
    John Barrett
    John Barrett
    • Mr. Glass
    • (uncredited)
      • Cyril Frankel
      • Nigel Kneale(screenplay)
      • Norah Lofts(novel "The Devil's Own")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In a later magazine interview, Nigel Kneale said that he was dissatisfied with the way the film had turned out. Personally, he found modern black magic practitioners to be fairly risible and he had intended to poke fun at the idea of an English coven. His blackly comic touches were removed by the production team, who wanted the film to be entirely serious. Conceding the film to be well-cast, he felt the ending lacked the necessary menace needed to avoid the unintentional-but-inherent silliness of the situation.
    • Goofs
      When Linda starts dancing in the finale, Tom's position changes between long shots and close-ups.
    • Quotes

      Gwen Mayfield: Look at this! Stuck full of pins and it's head missing. What do you think it could possible be?

      Stephanie Bax: Witchcraft? Somebody having a little dabble? Yes, I would think so. Or did you think I was going to say, no no no, it can't happen here? I bet there are lots of remote spots where remnants of witchcraft are still practiced. Places like Heddaby, in fact. I've often wondered.

      Gwen Mayfield: Well, what are we going to do?

      Stephanie Bax: Do? Ah.

      Gwen Mayfield: Well, I'd like to start by removing those pins.

      Stephanie Bax: Yes, we could- Oh, no! Emphatically not! Do you see why? Well, that would mean admitting belief in it all, for ourselves I mean.

      Gwen Mayfield: Oh, I see!

      Stephanie Bax: I did some articles on witches once. No, not witches, damn them, people who thought they were witches. The psychology of it. It's a sex thing deep down, of course, mostly women go in for it, older women.

      Gwen Mayfield: Like, um, Mrs. Rigg, for instance?

      Stephanie Bax: Yes. They relish the idea of a secret power, especially when their normal powers are failing. Now, they may believe in it, the point is, do we? What are we giving into if we admit the possibility that a healthy young kid can be put in hospital by mere ill will? That's where it gets fascinating.

      Gwen Mayfield: I see, what we admit we believe and what we believe I suppose, could destroy us.

      Stephanie Bax: Beautifully put.

    • Connections
      Featured in The World of Hammer: Wicked Women (1994)

    User reviews66

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    "Half-baked but fair fun!"
    Schoolteacher Gwen Mayfield (Joan Fontaine) suffers a breakdown in Africa brought on by witchdoctors who wanted her out of the country. Having returned to England and recovered fully, she accepts the job of headmistress at a private church school in a remote village. Here she discovers that ancient voodoo rights are still being practiced, and that one of her pupils is to be sacrificed so that someone may have an after life.

    Hollywood actress Joan Fontaine had won an Oscar in 1940 for her appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, which also starred Cary Grant but by this stage parts worthy of her talents were hard to come by. In the early sixties she bought the rights to a novel called The Devil's Own by Peter Curtis (the pseudonym for Nora Lofts) and suggested that Hammer should make it in the hope of re-establishing her career. However, the film turned out to be a box office disappointment and she made only a few TV movies thereafter. Fontaine is the sister of another veteran Hollywood actress Olivia De Haviland. Joan Fontaine had director approval for The Witches and she subsequently worked with Frankel on the stage. Frankel began his film career as a documentarist for the "Crown Film Unit" and had previously worked for Hammer on the critically acclaimed Never Take Sweets From A Stranger. During the sixties he was kept busy on TV working on a number of cult shows such as A Man In A Suitcase, Randall & Hopkirk Deceased and The Champions.

    The Witches comes across as being somewhat half-baked. The script by Nigel (Quatermass) Kneale fails to generate enough tension or horror to really get the juices going, and insufficient character development prevents Fontaine from getting the most out of her part but I must be fair and say that with what she does have to do she does extremely well. Kay Walsh (Nancy in David Lean's Oliver Twist) is excellent as the laid back journalist Stephanie Bax. The film is also let down by the risible voodoo sabbat climax, which provides more giggles than shudders but there is still a lot to enjoy here. Director Cyril Frankel directs the picture with skill and the appeal of dastardly deeds going on in the seemingly tranquil and remote English countryside comes off very well in the picture's favour. Frankel is greatly aided by veteran Hammer cameraman Arthur Grant whose lighting uses the picturesque locations to full effect.
    helpful•33
    5
    • jamesraeburn2003
    • Oct 17, 2003

    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 1967 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Hammer Films
      • Seven Arts Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 30 minutes

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