Must See Movie...

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Accidentally removing a tombstone during a cemetery renovation, a buried-alive witch returns from the grave to continue enacting a curse held on two rival families in modern-day England and forces them to stop its ties with one to end the rampage.Frankly, this was quite enjoyable and certainly a worthwhile British Gothic horror effort. One of its many enjoyable aspects is the rather enjoyable atmosphere created here from what was simply a low-budget effort that certainly has a lot going for it with its use of the graveyard, fog-shrouded buildings, Satanic rituals and meetings and the involvement of a long-held curse all laid out in a modern setting. There's all the familiar trappings to be found here from this one employing that Gothic atmosphere and style here against the civilized world as the whole effort takes place in a type of modernized London on the outskirts of the city with a lot of more modern conveniences than the period-set efforts at the same time which also comes into play here quite nicely alongside that old-school atmosphere. The option of featuring attacks in the car while driving down supposedly-open roads only to learn of supernaturally-influenced ideas against them or using a rotary chair-lift in another sequence makes for some ingenious suspense scenes but also works the two together quite well so it's a lot more comfortable with each other than it really should've been and helps to move this along at quite a hurried pace that it continues along without the chance of really getting boring or overlong. That helps as well with the finale which is the frenzied final battle with the witch while the traditional house-burns-up scenario so often found here that packs a lot of action into the space and again melds the old-school atmosphere with the more modern setting to get a lot out of this one. It's enough to overcome the minor flaw within this one, which is the haphazard way the finale works out here with this one taking a lot of extra time to get to a point it could've accomplished much faster as the editing doesn't really do this one a lot of favors doing it the way it is. There's enough to get the gist of this scene but it doesn't really get there the way it should and that's quite obvious. The low-budget during many of the scenes here is also quite apparent in the lame stunts and obvious doubles during many scenes that really hampers this one somewhat enough to keep it from a true classic.Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

"Witchcraft" is a comparatively obscure British horror film from 1964 that may be getting some well-deserved latter-day fans, thanks to recent screenings on TCM and this great-looking DVD. This modest but well-done offering from Shepperton Studios almost plays out like a Hatfield & McCoys family feud, but with decidedly supernatural overtones. It seems that modern land development in an area outside London has desecrated the burial plot of the Whitlocks, and before long, Vanessa Whitlock, who was buried alive in the 17th century for witchcraft, is up-and-at-'em to take vengeance on her ancestral enemies, the Laniers. Jack Hedley is quite sturdy in his role as Bill Lanier, the modern-day land developer, and, in a NONembarrassing performance, Lon Chaney, Jr. is also quite fine as Morgan Whitlock, a coven leader. Best of all, perhaps, is Yvette Rees as Vanessa. With not a single line of dialogue, she manages to convey implacable evil very effectively, and her every appearance is a frightening one; my beloved "Psychotronic Encyclopedia" is quite correct in describing her as being "in the Barbara Steele tradition." Director Don Sharp, whose work on the 1963 Hammer film "Kiss of the Vampire" had recently impressed me, here turns in another solid effort, and the film's B&W photography is quite lovely to behold. The picture ends most satisfactorily, I feel, and on a nicely UNsentimental note, with Grandmother Lanier's pronouncement "Born in evil, death in burning" a perfect summation of affairs. Though perhaps not quite as sterling as an earlier British witches-and-devil film, "Horror Hotel" (1960), "Witchcraft" yet reveals itself to be a compact and pleasing affair that does leave a residual chill. Unlike Vanessa, this is one relic whose unearthing should be welcomed....

All the ingredients for a good story about witchcraft are assembled for this minor British entry, well photographed in low-key style with effective B&W photography and featuring a competent, but rather not well-known British cast, with the exception of LON CHANEY, JR. who has a minor role despite being top-billed.JACK HEDLEY is the land developer who is too late in stopping the Lanier family from building a construction site that disturbs the Whitlock graveyard. The feuding families even have a "Romeo and Juliet" sub-plot going with Hedley's son, David WESTON, involved in a romance with Chaney's grand-daughter DIANE CLARE. The desecration of the grave site causes a 300-year-old woman buried alive as a witch to return from the grave to wreck havoc on the Lanier family.It's a simple plot and it plays fairly well but there is nothing new to the material and it's been done before in a thousand different ways. The vengeance theme gets a workout with various members meeting untimely deaths and there's a big fire at the conclusion where the past is buried once and for all.Biggest drawback is that Chaney doesn't fit into the proceedings with his American accent, so it's probably a good thing his role is a minor one. He was clearly not in the best of health at the time and it weakens even his subordinate role.YVETTE REES as the vengeful, wordless witch who was buried alive gives the film's most chillingly sinister performance.

I had always been interested in checking out this one, as much for the late eminent critic Leslie Halliwell's favorable assessment of the movie as for its coverage (from the time of the original release) in a monthly magazine which my father used to collect called "Film Review".WITCHCRAFT allows horror icon Lon Chaney Jr. (top-billed here but appearing only intermittently throughout!) one of his best latter-day roles – though he gives a rather one-note performance. Jack Hedley (later star of Lucio Fulci's notorious slasher THE NEW YORK RIPPER [1982]) is well cast as the young lead, projecting the right mix of ruggedness and intelligence. Notable, too, is Yvette Rees as the revived witch – actually reminiscent of Barbara Steele from Mario Bava's seminal BLACK Sunday (1960) in her simultaneous evocation of sensuality and repulsion; all of her appearances (including nightly visitations upon current members of her family's rival clan who had her buried alive centuries ago!) denote some of the movie's visual and dramatic highlights.As a matter of fact, the film emerges as one of four classic British occult chillers – the others being NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957), THE CITY OF THE DEAD (1960) and NIGHT OF THE EAGLE (1962) – which clearly serve to establish the fact that there was life within the field outside of Hammer Films…although, on this preliminary viewing, I'd say WITCHCRAFT is a notch below the other three. Incidentally, being the last to come out, it shows definite influences emanating from the concurrent flood of Italian genre offerings (with, as I said, any number of arresting Bavaesque images) courtesy of Don Sharp's stylish mise-en-scene – demonstrating once again his flair for Gothic horror also displayed in Hammer's THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963) – and Arthur Lavis' crisp black-and-white cinematography. The few coven scenes – especially one that is foolishly interrupted by heroine Jill Dixon, leading to her immediate abduction – bear a strong similarity to those in THE CITY OF THE DEAD; Carlo Martelli's moody score effectively complements the eerie proceedings, which culminate in a typical but satisfying fiery climax.Still, I found the script somewhat problematic and was slightly bothered by the following rather glaring goofs/plot contrivances: during the scene in which Jack Hedley is being compelled to drive towards a precipice by the witch, there's a cut to the car back on the main road (unless this was intended as an illusion, for Hedley to keep going regardless – but it's not made exceedingly clear and, in fact, there's been a recent discussion on this very point in the "Classic Horror Film Board"!) and couldn't they have come up with a different method of disposing of the brothers in the first place (especially since no ominous devil-doll is seen anywhere near them at that time!); also, the fact that Hedley and his brother would go off on a business trip and leave their loved ones behind (including a bed-ridden grandmother) when a couple of unexplained deaths have already occurred, the girl staying with them (the brother's girlfriend) may or may not be involved in witchcraft herself and the vengeful head of their rival clan is about to be sprung from jail!; finally, the thirteen members of the coven enter the crypt to begin the pivotal Sabbath rituals but singularly fail to notice straight away the absence of their intended sacrifice (Dixon) from the room – conveniently allowing the girl and her saviors enough time to flee the premises unharmed! Despite the rather disappointing (if not surprising) lack of extra material found on this "Midnite Movie" 2-discer released from Fox, the included photo gallery does allow one a rare and intriguing look (in color, no less!) behind the scenes of this modest but classy production.