This movie started pretty good. But their was no suspense. Surprisingly this one was off my radar I never heard of it till I noticed it on TCM this morning and taped it.
The last 20 minutes was laughable. It was also stupid. Very disappointing.
Skip and watch burn witch burn. A forgotten treasure.
4 out of 10.
The ritual sequence was laughable, it seemed very ridiculous and not at all terrifying. Though it should not reflect The Witches overall. It was a good psychological drama.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
The second rate variety show styled choreography of the ritual and happy ever after tacked-on ending sunk the film for me. Why did they coven allow Gwen to get so up close and personal to events when it must have been obvious she'd be looking for some way to save the day? This all felt very un-Nigel Kneale like, sloppily conceived and compromised.
Joan Fontaine's poor performance didn't help much either. She appeared to be struggling with her lines and overacted
when called on to display anxiety,
suspicion and fear.
On the plus side the story was reasonably involving, the supporting cast were up to the mark, it had a great slam bang opening and several sequences were effectively creepy: the cat in the rag doll, the huge African evil spirit costume and the gleeful skinning of a hare stood out for me.
Most interesting was how the story and shooting style at times seemed like a warm up for the Wicker Man, and suggested the same sense of paranoia. The depiction of rural traditions had a ring of authenticity that deserved a tighter, tougher film.
Best part of the movie was the ending. Made sense of the rest of the movie, IMHO. :>)
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The film certainly has it`s moments and the feeling of underlying mischief is well-handled in the early scenes.The guy playing the butcher is superb and the gleeful skinning of the rabbit an early highlight as an appalled Fontaine looks on.Watch out for Michelle Dotrice too!I`m afraid most of the comments are correct about the ending which is more comedy than the chilling finale which I desired.
shareThe ending is a bit over-theatrical. But I didn't mind it. Pretty creepy movie overall.
shareHave you seen "Kill List" made a few years ago?Similar to the Witches in that it tries to lull you with a seemingly ordinary domestic situation although you can`t help but feel something isn`t quite right.Despite the awful ending "Witches" is also a nice precursor to "Wicker Man".
shareNot seen Kill List. It was on Film 4 a few weeks ago and I liked the sound of it. I read the content advisory on here and it sounded a little extreme for me.
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