Witchfinder General: Horror Movie Review - A Sadistic Classic

[00:00:00]Today's review is sponsored by spicy communion wafers. When you want a little kick in your body of Christ. Don't eat too many or you'll get the holy cramps.

[00:00:10]>> Watch it Alan, I'm shooting.

[00:00:13]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Witchfinder General >> I'm going to place [music] this iron on your back.

[00:00:41]Should you faint or cry out we can only take it that Satan has intervened to spare you your agony.

[00:00:48]>> Ah, Vincent Price, one of my top two favorite actors. It's him and Peter Cushing for me. I love those two. If either one of them are in a movie, it's going to come up a notch for me. Not every movie they're in is good, but they are good in every movie they're in.

[00:01:04]Seriously, it doesn't matter if it's schlocky or more highbrow, they're always going to give 110%.

[00:01:12]Witchfinder General was a bit of a blind spot for me when it comes to Vincent Price movies. Um, I finally watched it and now I want to talk about it.

[00:01:21]>> You know me well enough to know that I wouldn't hesitate to fire and [music] kill you.

[00:01:25]>> I would that.

[00:01:27]>> I hold all human life dearly, Stern, especially my own.

[00:01:31]>> Witchfinder General is a British folk horror movie that came out in 1968. Uh, Vincent Price plays Matthew Hopkins, a witchfinder that travels the country going from town to town, uh, and he uses superstition and fear to exploit the local population. With the help of his sadistic assistant John, they go to all these towns and they end up torturing and murdering people who have been accused of being witches or they will accuse someone of being a witch with the sole purpose of eventually killing them for their own personal gains. Now, this is a fictionalized version of a real-life lawyer who falsely claimed that he was chosen by the Parliament to hunt down witches and put a stop to them.

[00:02:18]>> I reject YOUR FOUL SUGGESTIONS.

[00:02:20]>> LEAVE HERE AND WHY DON'T YOU REJECT US THE true God?

[00:02:24]>> Take him Stern. Look for the devil's marks upon him.

[00:02:27]>> They end up persecuting and murdering a priest which incurs the wrath of Richard Marshall who is a soldier in the British Army. By the way, this takes place during the the British Civil War.

[00:02:39]Anyway, so they incur the wrath of Richard Marshall who was engaged to the niece of the priest.

[00:02:47]Anyway, Richard risks being accused of treason. He abandons his post in order to try and get revenge on the murderous witchfinder.

[00:02:58]>> I'm your man, friend. John Stern THEY CALL ME.

[00:03:04]I'M HUSBAND TO SARAH LOWES.

[00:03:08]>> THIS IS one of those witch movies where there's no magic, there's nothing supernatural going on. There aren't even any real witches throughout the film.

[00:03:17]The horror comes from the persecution that those who were accused of being a witch were were put through during that time. When it comes to these atrocities, most people think of the Salem witch trials.

[00:03:31]But of course, that was not the only place where stuff like this happened. It happened all over Europe and hell, even before you had the witch trials, you had the werewolf trials. That was a real thing. You look it up. It's fascinating. But back to the movie, films like this are about the horrors of belief. How people use their belief to harm others, to exploit others.

[00:03:56]How people will do violent acts in the name of their beliefs.

[00:04:02]That's something that was relevant back in the day and is still relevant today, unfortunately.

[00:04:08]>> In private talk, you may shed some light on his innocence.

[00:04:13]>> Private.

[00:04:14]>> Hie thee away from the distraction [music] of the crowds. Perhaps in the quiet of your room tonight, you might be able to help me prove him guiltless.

[00:04:22]>> Matthew Hopkins uses his position as a witch finder to get sexual favors, to enrich himself, either by um getting paid for murdering and torturing people, or by taking the money of those he had just had killed for being a witch. And then you have his assistant, John, who is a bastard. That's the best way to describe him. He is such a bastard. He enjoys the torture. He's this really scuzzy, sleazy guy. And And there's a major hypocrisy to him because both him and and Matthew Hopkins are claiming to be doing this for God, but they're trying to get sexual favors and all that kind of stuff. So, there is definitely a hypocrisy there that may that helps make them such good villains.

[00:05:14]>> GO ON.

[00:05:19]>> THERE ARE SCENES WHERE MATTHEW AND John are trying to get confessions out of people and they're both disturbing, horrific, and frustrating.

[00:05:28]But But in a good way, in a way that you want in a movie like this. You know, there are movies that are frustrating just because they are poorly made and you have characters making poor decisions, but then you have movies that are deliberately frustrating, which helps add to the suspense of the whole situation. I'm not sure how accurate some of the stuff they did was to what happened during the actual witch trials, but when you look into the witch trials, you you understand that it's not far off to what people did. In fact, some of it might have some of the stuff in this movie is more lenient than what they did in real life. You look into the stuff and Um like for example, um one of the the tests they do is stabbing someone in the back in the back until they can find a place where they don't bleed. And if that's if there's a spot that doesn't bleed, that that means they have the mark of the devil.

[00:06:29]And then there's something they do in the film that I know was done back in the day. Uh they they throw people in water and if they float, they're a witch. If they drown, they were not a witch, my bad. Uh but that's something that actually happened. They would throw people in water uh and if they floated, they were a witch. If they drowned, they were not a witch. God forbid somebody knew how to swim.

[00:07:03]And it really shows the hypocrisy of the time. These people were tortured into confessing they were a witch, whether they were a witch or not. In fact, they were most like most of the people, 99.99999% of them were not witches. Maybe they accidentally got one, I don't know. But anyway, um they would torture these people not to get the truth, but to get a confession. They didn't care about the truth. They just wanted to find someone that they could persecute. They don't want the actual truth, they want what they want the truth to be, which sadly is something you still see today. You look at the internet, you see it all the goddamn time.

[00:07:46]>> I trust you are using the prescribed methods, Stern.

[00:07:49]>> Naturally.

[00:07:52]>> Has she confessed?

[00:07:53]>> Oh, give me time. She's only been here an hour.

[00:07:56]>> Continue with the interrogation.

[00:07:58]>> And everything they did back then was so unnecessary. There are much easier ways to tell if somebody is a witch. If they weigh the same as a duck, they're made of wood, and therefore, they're a witch.

[00:08:10]Sir Bedemir, thank you for your service.

[00:08:12]Vincent Price is great, as always. It's what you expect from a Vincent Price performance. Uh this might be his most sadistic role. It It's between uh this one or his character in Mask of the Red Death. But Matthew Hopkins is such a good villain. He He's the kind of villain that you love to hate. As you watch him on screen, you're captivated by him, and you want to see him go down.

[00:08:35]Uh same thing with his assistant, John, uh who is played by Ro- uh uh played by Robert Russell.

[00:08:42]>> Refresh Master Salters' memory, Stern.

[00:08:50]>> You heard him.

[00:08:54]>> You want to see these two die. These aren't the the fun villains that you see in so many Vincent Price movies. While Matthew Hopkins is charismatic, I mean, Vincent Price is charism- uh charismatic in any role that he's in, uh it it's not a a fun villain. It's a villain that, you know, is while charismatic, he's so sadistic that when you see him on screen, you know things are going to get rough. So, you get that sense of dread. We still love him as a villain, but we we love to hate him as a villain.

[00:09:22]>> Keep at it, Stern. You're doing God's work.

[00:09:31]>> [music] >> But as much as the villains steal the whole show, we we do have to give props to our two protagonists, uh Richard and Sarah. Now, you have Sarah who was the niece of the priest who was killed. Hey, that rhymes.

[00:09:45]Uh she's there to be your typical damsel in distress, uh but she does a good job in the role. You know, you you do feel sympathy for her, and you do care enough about her. You don't want to see bad things happen to her.

[00:09:59]>> I didn't want to.

[00:10:03]I thought I could save him.

[00:10:08]I thought they'd have pity.

[00:10:10]>> And then we have her fiance, Richard. Uh he starts off as this obedient British soldier, uh but then he turns down a path of revenge. Um That That's one of the interesting things about Witchfinder General. It starts off as this folk horror movie, but then it turns into a revenge movie.

[00:10:28]And it mixes the the themes of folk horror and a revenge flick together very well. What makes Richard such an interesting character is he's put in this delicate position. Uh he's a soldier in the British Army during the British Civil War. And uh he wants to go on his quest for vengeance, but if he does so, he will be he could be accused of uh desertion and treason. Uh it's those added elements that add to the suspense throughout the film.

[00:10:58]>> For God's sake, Richard, I know how you feel. But to risk court-martial to kill Parliament's own appointees, you'll be hanged yourself.

[00:11:06]>> Robert.

[00:11:08]>> Now, we do have to mention Mark of the Devil, uh which came out in Germany two years later in 1970. Um Witchfinder General and Mark of the Devil are very similar movies. They They both involve involve a witchfinder who is using fear and belief to control others to gain what they want. Uh both movies involve torturing people into confessing that they are witches, but there are enough differences in both films that I do think both can stand on their own. And Mark of the Mark of the Devil is far more graphic than Witchfinder General. There there are graphic scenes in Witchfinder General and it does get disturbing, but not too much. Uh Mark of the Devil definitely gets more disturbing. There's more nudity, there's more blood, there are even more torture scenes. Um Uh while Witchfinder General is disturbing, I would say it's a a palatable disturbing. So, I could probably recommend this to any horror fan, any movie fan for that matter.

[00:12:11]Whereas Mark of the Devil is more graphic and it's more disturbing in a graphic kind of way. But I do think both movies are good and I I do think they are both worth watching. I would probably say that Witchfinder General is the better of the two movies, but that's not to knock Mark of the Devil. I'm glad I finally watched Witchfinder General.

[00:12:31]It's one of those where have you been all my life kind of movies and I only have myself to blame for that. Um This was the first movie in what is considered an unofficial trilogy that started a run of folk horror movies in Britain. The other two movies are Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man. And I I would like to talk about both those movies as well. So, I'm planning on talking about Blood on Satan's Claw next week.

[00:13:01]But until then, let's get to the Grindhouse rankings.

[00:13:05]We've got a body count of 11. There are moments where people get very badly wounded in the film, but it does look like they're still alive. The kills consist of, but are not limited to gunshots, stabbings, getting hanged, and getting burned alive. Vincent Price is great as always. I mean, he's Vincent Price. That's all I have to say about that. This is a rough movie. Not graphic. I would say it's disturbing in a more palatable way, but it does get rough in certain points. So, keep that in mind. While Vincent Price does steal the show, the other characters are also good. We care about the protagonists and we want to see them get out of this okay. I like how the movie turns into a revenge movie in the second half. It mixes the themes of folk horror and revenge flicks together very well. The third act is brutal, but fantastic. And the ending is good and hard-hitting. It leaves you with a solid final image. I'm giving this a 4.8 out of 5. I'm glad I finally watched this movie and I wish I watched it sooner.

[00:14:14]As always, I want to thank all of you for continuing to watch and support this channel. Um please leave a comment down below. Let me know some of your favorite folk horror movies other than Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man. I'm I'm going to be talking about those two movies. This is the Maniac here to remind you that the Grindhouse will never die. I am not a witch. I am a wench.

[00:14:37]Let's have some fun. Hello, boys.

[00:14:40]>> [laughter] >> I'm so sorry. Have a good one.

[00:14:46]>> [music]