The Power of the Witch: Real or Imaginary? (1971 TV Movie) User Reviews

Interesting companion piece to 70s Brit horror

[princeps-suspiriorum · 7/10 · 28 October 2014]

Although this BBC documentary isn't necessarily a brilliant work in its own right, it does serve as a useful companion piece to British horror of the early to mid 70s. The lack of distance from the 'Satanic panic' and the general tone of the documentary makes clear the sensational aspects of the cases discussed. As information, it's poorly structured and silly, but it does give you an idea of the climate in which films like 'To the Devil a Daughter' or 'The Blood on Satan's Claw' were received. There is a real sense of a Christian Britain feeling itself at siege, which wormed its way into the faltering Hammer Horror films as they struggled to remain relevant. Dracula AD 1972 references ritual murders, the Satanic Rites of Dracula is clear from the title; this documentary shows the silly and lurid headlines they were trying to chase with such films.

The same reason

[nick121235 · 7/10 · 3 December 2020]

This is a paranoid, unintentionally hilarious, informationally void 70s documentary on the subject of witchcraft. There's very little in the way of facts and a lot of fear mongering but it's quite funny. I would watch it again, in fact. This is the same feeling I get when I watch many of the fiction films of the day and so I love it for the same reason. It's intended to be factual.

Interesting Documentary on Witchcraft

[Michael_Elliott · 4 October 2016]

The Power of the Witch: Real or Imaginary? (1971)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This British documentary takes a look at the history of witchcraft and various witches in their country. The film talks about the possibility of witches being real or if perhaps it was all a mental thing. For the most part I thought this was a rather entertaining documentary that managed to keep you interested in the subject. If you're a fan of the British horror movies of this era then you'll probably enjoy this even more than your casual viewer since films like BURN WITCH BURN and WITCHFINDER GENERAL were making a lot of noise at the time this was released. There are some nice stories told and the red-ish tent gave the film a bit of atmosphere. If you're a fan of the subject then this is an interesting piece and there's even a bit on Jayne Mansfield that I hadn't heard about.