Witchfinder General – Screenbound (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: UK, 1968
Director: Michael Reeves
Writers: Michael Reeves, Tom Baker, Louis M. Heyward
Cast: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies, Patrick Wymark, Wilfrid Brambell, Hilary Dwyer

Release Date: June 13th, 2011
Approximate Running Time: 86 Minutes 44 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: N/A
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £14.99

"England is in civil war as the Royalists battle Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads for control. This conflict distracts people from rational thought and allows unscrupulous men to gain power by exploiting village superstitions. One of these men is Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price), who tours the land offering his services as a persecutor of witches. Aided by his sadistic accomplice John Stearne (Robert Russell), he travels from town to town and wrenches confessions from “witches” in order to line his pockets." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Witchfinder General comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 24.7 GB

Feature: 18.7 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape. Colors look correct; the image generally looks crisp; black levels are strong; compression is very good; and DNR is kept in check.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English. There are no issues with background hiss or distortion; dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. That said, range-wise, things are limited. There are no subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a stills gallery with music from the film playing in the background, a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 31 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), alternate opening and closing credits (6 minutes 25 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), alternate scenes from export version (5 minutes 10 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), a short film directed by Michael Reeves titled Intrusion with optional audio commentary with Michael Reeves biographer Benjamin Halligan and Director Michael Armstrong (10 minutes 27 seconds, no sound), Vincent Price on Aspel & Company (10 minutes 9 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), a documentary titled Bloody Crimes: Witchcraft and Matthew Hopkins (23 minutes 41 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), a career retrospective documentary about Michael Reeves titled ‘The Blood Beast: The Films of Michael Reeves (23 minutes 52 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Benjamin Halligan and Michael Armstrong.

Summary:

Witchfinder General was directed by Michael Reeves, who would die tragically from a drug overdose just a few years after completing the film at the very young age of 25. In his all-too-brief career, Michael Reeves would also direct The She-Beast (1966) and The Sorcerers (1967). The screenplay for Witchfinder General was adapted from Ronald Bassett’s novel of the same name. Being that The Witchfinder General was a co-production with AIP (American International Pictures), it is not surprising that the film’s alternate title of The Conqueror Worm was used for the film’s U.S. release, since AIP had already at that point produced a slew of Edgar Allen Poe-inspired films. 

The cinematographer on Witchfinder General was John Coquillon, whose other notable films as a cinematographer include Curse of the Crimson Altar, Straw Dogs, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and The Oblong Box (a film that Michael Reeves was originally slated to direct).

In lesser hands, Witchfinder General would be nothing more than your standard exploitation yarn about witchcraft. Instead, what emerges is a thought-provoking look into the darkest sides of humanity. Narratively speaking, the Witchfinder General quickly sets the mood with an opening lynching of a witch. After this scene, there is some very brief set-up involving a civil war and a love story between the daughter of a priest and a soldier. Thankfully, both of these things are primarily kept on the back burner. With the scenes revolving around the Matthew Hopkins character (aka the witchfinder general).

Content-wise, there are many elements in Witchfinder General that one would associate with the horror film genre, and yet to merely classify it as a horror film would be doing it a great disservice. Notable in terms of the unflinching and often gruesome violence depicted in Witchfinder General. 

Another area in which Witchfinder General excels are the performances from its entire cast, especially Vincent Price (The Last Man on Earth), who gives his most restrained performance of his career. Reportedly, Vincent Price and director Michael Reeves disagreed on how he should portray Matthew Hopkins. Michael Reeves insisted on Vincent Price's performance being more detached than his usual hamming it up. Another performance of note is Hilary Dwyer (The Oblong Box) in the role of Sara Lowes, this film's only fleshed-out female character. With the film's finale, in which her character is being tortured by Matthew Hopkins, being its most horrific moment.

Though the breadth of his cinematic cannon is limited to three films, Michael Reeves' journey as a filmmaker has been truly remarkable. And while it is undeniable that Witchfinder General is his crowning achievement as a filmmaker, knowing that this was a cinematic swan song only emphasizes how tragic his death was for the world of cinema.

Witchfinder General gets a solid release from Screenbound that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of informative extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer