A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe real Matthew Hopkins was only in his mid 20s in 1645 and died before he was 30. Vincent Price's character is well into middle age, like the actor himself. Hopkins and Stearne executed more than 300 people, mainly women, during their two or three years of "witch hunting." Considering that about 500 people in total were executed for witchcraft in England between the late 15th and late 18th centuries, this means Hopkins was responsible for two-thirds of these executions during a period of three years.
- GoofsThere are several references to the value of payments in 'guineas'. However, the gold coin of that name was not minted until 1663, eighteen years after the film was set.
- Quotes
Matthew Hopkins: Men sometimes have strange motives for the things they do.
- Alternate versionsAll British versions prior to 1996 were cut by 1 min 26 secs by the UK censor on original release. The Redemption Video release restores this material from a U.S laserdisc.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Nightwatch Presents Edgar Allan Poe: The Conqueror Worm (1973)
Featured review
A very interesting historical thriller with quite possibly Vincent Price's finest performance.
I had been wanting to see 'Witchfinder General' for years, and I must say it almost lives up to its reputation. The version I watched was the restored uncut one, and while I thought the film had one or two slight flaws (mainly with the script), it is very, very good. This was the third and final movie directed by Michael Reeves, who sadly died of a drug overdose a year after it was released while still in his mid twenties. 'Witchfinder General' certainly shows a lot of promise, and is very well made on what I imagine was a fairly modest budget. Many describe it as a horror movie, but I think thriller is a more apt term. While it has some brutal and violent moments, and it does concern witches, there is no supernatural theme. It is similar in many ways to the underrated 'Mark Of The Devil' and Jess Franco's disappointing 'The Bloody Judge', two movies released after this one, and undoubtedly influenced by it. Horror legend Vincent Price clashed with Reeves on set with the latter telling him not to ham it up. Price took offence at this but obviously heeded the advice, and his performance here is arguably the best of his career. Price is brilliant throughout, and the supporting cast are all pretty good, especially Reeves regular Ian Ogilvy, and Robert Russell as Price's surly assistant, and there's a good cameo from Patrick Wymark ('Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun') as Cromwell. 'Witchfinder General' is a very good film which deserves to be seen by a wider audience, and Michael Reeves death is a tragedy for all movie lovers.
helpful•559
- Infofreak
- Feb 24, 2003
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Edgar Allan Poe's The Conqueror Worm
- Filming locations
- Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk, England, UK(The trial of the witches/John Lowes is hung)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £83,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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