MovieChat Forums > Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General (1968) Discussion > The Torture of the Priest Was Very Movi...

The Torture of the Priest Was Very Moving

posted 17 years ago by webfix
9 replies | jump to latest

The scene where Hopkins and his henchmen torture the poor priest (played by Rupert Davies) was both very moving and extremely disturbing. I mean, this poor man of the cloth was INNOCENT, and for somebody to just knock on his door like that and put him through all that pain and suffering . . . well, it was just too much. I really felt for him.

Witchfinder General really held your attention, gripped you unwaveringly from the start, and literally SCREAMED into your face with its sheer savagery and horror. The way Price portrayed Matthew Hopkins was just so brilliant and unforgettable.

For me, no modern horror movie of today has ever managed to quite capture that same profound sense of shock and anxiety has Witchfinder General did.

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[–] chrismartonuk-1 15 years ago

Rupert Davies was a fine actor sadly typecast for his part of Maigret. He is truly moving as John Lowes and you really empathise with his pain.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Jacaranda408 14 years ago

Did Matthew Hopkins ever really persecute a priest? I thought all of his targets were women?

[–] Pamfino 14 years ago

John Lowes did actually exist and was the minister at Brandeston. He was in his 70s and was apparently quite unpopular with his parishioners, which is presumably why he was accused of witchcraft even though he was a priest. He was tortured by Hopkins and his assistants in the manner shown in the film (running) for several days and nights, but it was in his cell in prison not at his home. He confessed to witchcraft, but later retracted this forced confession. However, he was still executed by hanging in August 1645. Apparently, he recited his own last rights as he wasn't allowed to have a priest in attendance at the execution.

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"I am not young enough to know everything." : Oscar Wilde

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] TheSolarSailor 11 years ago

In the introductions he recorded for the TV broadcast of the film in Iowa back in 1982 that is on the new Bluray, Vincent Price claims that everything you see in the film is true, with the one exception being the ending. I wonder if he refers to only Hopkins and his witch trials, or if the story of the young soldier and his girlfriend is true as well?

It truly is an injustice of nature that Hopkins died peacefully in his bed at a ripe old age.

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[–] michael-abatemarco 9 years ago

He did die a natural death, from what I have read but I also read that there are no records actually confirming this. Some say he, too, was eventually accused of witchcraft and forced to undergo the same swimming test he administered to his victims. He did not live to a ripe old age, however, but died in his 20s. He was not nearly as old as he's portrayed in the film.

''It's a lonely way, you know, the way of the necromancer.''

[–] TheSolarSailor 8 years ago

Maybe that was considered old back then! 

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[–] ElectricWarlock 10 years ago

I felt sorry for him as well. Nobody should have to be put through even half of what he suffered through no matter what they've done. I also felt sorry for his niece for sacrificing her innocence and giving her own body away just to save him, but then he still died either way. Matthew Hopkins was a despicable man.