WitchFinder General

Directed by Michael Reeves

Starring Vincent Price, Ian Olgivy, Hilary Dwyer

The year is 1645 and England is in the middle of a civil war. Matthew Hopkins ( Price ) has been fighting his own battles against the Devil's army, witches.

When we first see Hopkins, he and his masochistic assistant John Stearne are on horseback amid a field of sheep, watching and enjoying the sight of villagers preparing to hang the latest of Hopkin's so called witches. He is a self declared witch hunter. These two men are truly wolves among sheep.

Richard Marshall ( Olgivy ) rides into the village of Brandeston on leave from the army to see his future bride Sarah, as soon as her uncle , the local priest gives them his blessing. As Richard is returning to his military duties he passes Hopkins and Stearne riding into Brandeston. They have been hired to deal with a priest that has been accused doing the Devil's bidding. Unknown to Richard, the priest in question is Sarah's uncle.

Matthew Hopkins is truly a loathsome son of a bitch,and will stop at nothing to get his way. Whether it is beating confessions out of the accused witches , or tricking Sarah into having sexual relationships with him. He tells her that her uncle's life will be spared , and will only have him locked in prison, if...

Vincent Price plays it straight here, having hammed it up in most of his other roles. He is quite convincing in this part. Other than the fact, historically Hopkins was much younger.

Director Michael Reeves wanted Donald Pleasance for the role of Matthew Hopkins, but WitchFinder General being an A.I.P. picture wanted their star Price who was under contract to star.This caused a lot of friction between the director and the star. The tension created probably contributed to the evil persona of Price's performance as Hopkins. This is IMHO his most intense role and he does have quite a few on his resume.

Witchfinder General being only the third film for director Michael Reeves, She Devil and The Sorceres being the other two . A brilliant career ending when Reeves at the age of twenty six took his own life.

My Thoughts: This is an amazing picture, the acting is stupendous, directing is spot on, there is beautiful scenes of England's country side. Many people getting too close to the campfire as many bodies are burnt at the stake,( bring the marshmallows).

My Rating: 4 Go Go Girls out of 5