Search - Witchfinder General on DVD

Content Advisory: Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children Movie Release: 1968 Format: DVD SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Studio: Blue Jackel Members Wishing: 5 Genres: Drama, Adventure Drama, Period Film See Also: Witchfinder General

A corrupt opportunist commits brutal crimes in the name of God and country in this atmospheric period horror tale. In 17th century England, as a people's uprising threatens Lord Cromwell's rule, superstition still rules the land, and the Royalists use this to their advantage by inaugurating a reign of terror in the name of wiping out alleged witches and agents of the dark arts. Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) has been appointed "witchfinder" by Puritan Royalists, and with the help of his thuggish assistant Stearne (Robert Russell), Hopkins travels from town to town, brutally interrogating those accused of witchcraft and using fire, drowning, and torture to extract "confessions" from the accused. Of course, Hopkins' opinions can be swayed with money and other considerations, and when Father Lowes (Rupert Davies), a priest whose sympathies do not lie with the Royalists, is arrested and tortured by Hopkins and Stearne, his devoted niece Sarah (Hilary Dwyer) is able to stay his punishment by sleeping with Hopkins. Sarah, however, is engaged to marry Marshall (Ian Ogilvy), a soldier in Cromwell's army, and once Marshall learns that the woman he loves has been seduced by Hopkins -- and raped by Stearne -- he becomes determined to expose the witchfinder and punish him for his misdeeds. Witchfinder General was released in the United States by American International Pictures, who in addition to arranging for Vincent Price to play Matthew Hopkins, changed the North American title to The Conqueror Worm, after a poem by Edgar Allan Poe which was read over the credits by Price, though the story bears no real relation to Poe's work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Vincent Price - Matthew Hopkins
Ian Ogilvy - Richard Marshall
Rupert Davies - John Lowes
Hilary Dwyer - Sara
Robert Russell - John Stearne

Michael Reeves' Witchfinder General (1968, released in the U.S. as The Conqueror Worm) has yet to appear on DVD in America, but in England, the original version of the movie has been given first-class treatment by Metrodome Entertainment on a Region 2 DVD. The movie has been painstakingly restored and transferred very carefully; this disc offers both the complete director's cut, which was censored for distribution in England, and a more explicit edition (which includes some topless shots of female extras in some scenes) intended for overseas distribution. Each is accessible through a menu that must be called up manually (the disc automatically goes to the export version). There is some variation in quality in the "restored" sequences, and there are also some violent shots in the U.K. version that are distinctly poorer in quality than anything surrounding them (evidently the owners never kept an intact negative of either edition). But, overall, this is as good a looking version of this movie as this reviewer has ever seen, with deep, rich blacks, and a sumptuous look to the English countryside and gorgeous night shots. Paul Ferris' music (which was replaced in the American-release of the movie) is also well-represented here, in one of the better audio transfers that this reviewer has heard. The image has been letterboxed at a non-anamorphic aspect ratio of approximately 1.75:1. The supplements include a video by the band Witchfinder General and, much more important, a full-length documentary on the short life and career of Michael Reeves, which features interviews with his friends and colleagues and offers just about the best personal and professional portrait ever done in any medium of the filmmaker; there are also trailers for all three of his films. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide