IMDb RATING
7.7/10
3.1K
YOUR RATING
In the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.In the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.In the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
While the setting and the historical source of the movie is that of the late 17th century, don't be fooled, this is a movie about communism. More accurately, about the wretched logic the communist justice system has used to imprison and kill hundreds of people in the Czechoslovakian 50s. The forced confessions, self-accusal, torture and naming of innocent accomplices were all part of communist processes in which such as Milada Horáková perished.
There are plenty of analogies in the movie which I don't intend to spoil. The atmosphere is crafted masterfully, giving the film a bleak and dark look and amplifying the effects of its story. The performances are very good, however I don't know how well does the original czech translate into the subtitles. What keeps this from being a 10 out of 10 is the pacing. In a certain point of the movie, the end becomes obvious and the rest is just a hammer that drives the nail of absolute despair into your brain.
There are plenty of analogies in the movie which I don't intend to spoil. The atmosphere is crafted masterfully, giving the film a bleak and dark look and amplifying the effects of its story. The performances are very good, however I don't know how well does the original czech translate into the subtitles. What keeps this from being a 10 out of 10 is the pacing. In a certain point of the movie, the end becomes obvious and the rest is just a hammer that drives the nail of absolute despair into your brain.
Courtesy of AIP Studios' Witchfinder General (1968), everyone knows of the exploits of British witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins (as portrayed by Vincent Price) and his fictionalized counterparts in Count Christian von Meruh and Lord Cumberland (as portrayed by Udo Keir and Herbert Lom) in Mark of the Devil (1970) and Mark of the Devil II (1973). And now you'll learn of the even bloodier exploits of Witchfinder Inquisitor Boblig von Edelstat.
Born in Austria-Hungary, Czech Republic filmmaker Otakar Vavra's lone foray into the horror genre is this historical-drama concerned with the brutal inquisition of witches during the medieval era-a film that won several awards at Argentina's Mar del Plata International Film Festival in 1970. One of those wins was for cinematographer Josef Illik who, after watching Witchhammer: you'll wonder why Illik's name is not as revered in international film circles as Hungarian-American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
Based on a best-selling Czech history novel (1963) by Vaclav Kaplicky, the 17th century tale chronicles the real-life, human rights atrocities of the North Moravia Witch Trails of the 1670s by Witchfinder Inquisitor Boblig von Edelstat in which 100 people were murdered. The book's main protagonist, Priest Josef Lautner, is a cleric who tries to help his people, but soon falls victim to the trails for opposing "God's Law." The book is heralded as an important to literary lesson of man's ills in political-based paranoia and political prosecution on-level with Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1953) (required high school reading for many years).
The resulting film adapted by Vavra was banned, ironically, not for its graphic nature, but for Vavra adapting the film as an acidic allegory to the Communist show trails that rocked Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. While the film was banned from showing by the Czechoslovakian government, it was accepted by the international marketplace as a cinematic masterpiece.
I won't sugarcoat: Witchhammer, as was Pier Pasolini's Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), isn't pleasant (Pasolini's film even more so), but it is an exquisite example of perfection in cinema.
Watch this movie. Then watch it again.
You can find my more expansive review -- as I get into Vavra's resume -- under "Critic Reviews" for B&S About Movies.
Born in Austria-Hungary, Czech Republic filmmaker Otakar Vavra's lone foray into the horror genre is this historical-drama concerned with the brutal inquisition of witches during the medieval era-a film that won several awards at Argentina's Mar del Plata International Film Festival in 1970. One of those wins was for cinematographer Josef Illik who, after watching Witchhammer: you'll wonder why Illik's name is not as revered in international film circles as Hungarian-American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
Based on a best-selling Czech history novel (1963) by Vaclav Kaplicky, the 17th century tale chronicles the real-life, human rights atrocities of the North Moravia Witch Trails of the 1670s by Witchfinder Inquisitor Boblig von Edelstat in which 100 people were murdered. The book's main protagonist, Priest Josef Lautner, is a cleric who tries to help his people, but soon falls victim to the trails for opposing "God's Law." The book is heralded as an important to literary lesson of man's ills in political-based paranoia and political prosecution on-level with Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1953) (required high school reading for many years).
The resulting film adapted by Vavra was banned, ironically, not for its graphic nature, but for Vavra adapting the film as an acidic allegory to the Communist show trails that rocked Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. While the film was banned from showing by the Czechoslovakian government, it was accepted by the international marketplace as a cinematic masterpiece.
I won't sugarcoat: Witchhammer, as was Pier Pasolini's Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), isn't pleasant (Pasolini's film even more so), but it is an exquisite example of perfection in cinema.
Watch this movie. Then watch it again.
You can find my more expansive review -- as I get into Vavra's resume -- under "Critic Reviews" for B&S About Movies.
After the book Malleus Maleficarum that was publish on late 15th century in the Germany, all Europe afterwards suffering the evil power that start on Spain as the Spanish Inquisition spreading as fire, this picture was made under the old and authentic transcriptions between 1678 to 1695, describing the modus operandi over the citizen, starts to the poor's people, the next they were under torture nominate some wealthy mid class, until to reach in members of the clergy, that supposedly were against those inquires, no one dared faces such power, their properties and money was used to pay the high costs of those trial process, a fabulous picture from Czechoslovakia, a true piece of cinema, according some sources in a priceless documentary which l'd watched recently, something near of the sixty thousands people were killed in those darkest era, mostly by mental disorders, weird behaviors, hunchbacks, facial asymmetry among others abnormalities, indeed a black page of the mankind!!!
Resume:
First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9
Resume:
First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9
Whether we are talking about the real "witch trials" of the past, or alluding to more recent government (or other) uses of torture to advance or "prove" their causes, we quickly drift into very murky territory, IMHO. Even when used by a "good guy" such as Jack Bauer (in "24") to expedite things there's an inherent concern that, if people will say anything to escape the pain, then what's the point, and what is "proved"?
As this film well illustrates - whether it's about Communism or Witches - the wider issues of power, greed and societal control can provide ample cause for those willing to go down that path. Personally, I found it a tough (and somewhat depressing) watch, even though there is sparing use of graphic violence - but enough to get the point and add to the escalating mood of oppression.
Not for children, but otherwise recommended.
As this film well illustrates - whether it's about Communism or Witches - the wider issues of power, greed and societal control can provide ample cause for those willing to go down that path. Personally, I found it a tough (and somewhat depressing) watch, even though there is sparing use of graphic violence - but enough to get the point and add to the escalating mood of oppression.
Not for children, but otherwise recommended.
In the Seventeenth Century, in Moravia, the altar boy report to the priest that an old beggar woman has hidden her host in a piece of cloth during the communion. The priest brings the woman to question why she did it, and she tells him that another woman has promised food to her since her cow is not producing milk and she wanted to give the host to the animal. The priest brings the case to the Powers that Be in the town and priest Krystof Lautner (Elo Romancik), who is an intellectual man, tells him that it is a superstition from ignorant people and to give a penance to her. However, the priest brings the unscrupulous witchfinder Boblig von Edelstadt (Vladimír Smeral) that comes with his associate to Moravia and using torture, sentences three women to be burnt alive at stake. Then, he targets to the wealthy men in Moravia to get their fortunes, and to Lautner, who is a threat to him.
Serious movies about the Inquisition in the Dark Ages are usually unpleasant and disturbing. "Kladivo na carodejnice" (1970), a.k.a. "Witchhammer" is no exception to this rule and shows the corruption produced by the absolute power. In the present days, we have dictatorships, fanatic regimes, McCarthyism and supreme courts with excessive power in certain countries to show that this dark side of the mankind still prevails. The torture associated to the absolute power like it was in the Seventeenth Century completes the idea why this period of history is called Dark Ages. The direction and performances in this film are awesome associated to the black-and-white cinematography that gives the sensation of a documentary. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "O Martelo das Bruxas" ("The Hammer of the Witches")
Serious movies about the Inquisition in the Dark Ages are usually unpleasant and disturbing. "Kladivo na carodejnice" (1970), a.k.a. "Witchhammer" is no exception to this rule and shows the corruption produced by the absolute power. In the present days, we have dictatorships, fanatic regimes, McCarthyism and supreme courts with excessive power in certain countries to show that this dark side of the mankind still prevails. The torture associated to the absolute power like it was in the Seventeenth Century completes the idea why this period of history is called Dark Ages. The direction and performances in this film are awesome associated to the black-and-white cinematography that gives the sensation of a documentary. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "O Martelo das Bruxas" ("The Hammer of the Witches")
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDue to its resemblance to the atmosphere of fear and compulsory confessions that characterized the Stalinist-era Central European Communist countries' methods of the 1950s, the film was removed from release and appeared on television in the former 'Eastern Bloc' only after 1989.
- GoofsThe violin (string instruments) scene of the oligarchs when the maid watches is off timing so much it creates humorous empathy where a romantic emphasis is the focus. Considering the serious nature of the film this was not intended and a lapse in production quality.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Monsterquest: American Werewolf (2008)
- SoundtracksViolin Concerto No. 6 in A minor RV 356 'L'estro armonico' III. Presto
Written by Antonio Vivaldi
- How long is Witchhammer?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Witches' Hammer
- Filming locations
- Velké Losiny, Czech Republic(Exterior)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
