WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968)
“Men sometimes have strange motives for the things they do.”
Michael Reeves’ Witchfinder General fits nicely into the 1968 catalog of counterculture films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary’s Baby, and Psych-Out that were excessive in imagery and transgressions but massive with ideas and sharp social criticism. George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, for example, was a gruesome piece showing zombies feasting on human flesh but commented on a number of things in America from race relations to the violence in Vietnam. Likewise, Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby portrayed demon rape and satanic cults as metaphors for women’s rights, religious ritualism, and bodily autonomy. Taking place in the 17th century and focusing on religious superstition, Reeves’ Witchfinder General thus seemed to be worlds away from the social and political issues present in 1968 – a year rife with revolution all over the globe – but is there a connection?
Ronald Bassett, a British novelist, served as the foundation for Reeves’ movie when he wrote the book of the same name in 1966. The book features a fictionalized version of real life witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins who carried out nefarious operations in East Anglia (Eastern England) from 1644 to 1647 during the English Civil War. The back of the book even featured a warning to readers: “not for those with delicate stomachs” – an obvious caution that would be repeated with the film two years later.
Basset’s novel was picked up on impulse before publication by Tigon chief executive Tony Tenser who believed its potential for a film adaptation. Co-produced by American International Pictures (AIP) and Tigon British Film Productions (who were in direct competition with Amicus Productions and Hammer Film) the film treatment was given a budget of £100,000 (considered low then) and offered to 24 year old rising director Michael Reeves who would overdose and die the next year robbing the cinematic world of his talent.
Reeves’ film treatment was met with enthusiastic praise from Tenser, however, there were problems to be had with choosing the film’s star. Reeves wrote the script and role of Matthew Hopkins with Donald Pleasence firmly in mind. With the insistence (and funding) of AIP, who produced a number of Roger Corman pictures, Pleasance was dropped and replaced with Vincent Price who they believed would be more villainous given his acting repertoire and thespian experience. This abrupt change would lead to turmoil between Reeves and Price.
The script was returned twice by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) who described the film as “a study in sadism in which every detail of cruelty and suffering is lovingly dwelt on…”. To “reduce the offensiveness” of the film, the description also had an extensive list of the following scene cuts: John Stearne, Hopkins’ right hand man, having his eyeballs smashed in by a woman’s thumbs; extended death spasms of executed witch suspects; a battle scene featuring a decapitation; Hopkins being gratuitously beaten, partially drowned, and hanged. It’s amazing to think what audiences would observe two years later in Mark of the Devil by Michael Armstrong.
Filming wrapped up on schedule but probably could have finished quicker if not for the frequent clashes between Price and Reeves with one heated exchange involving Price exclaiming “I’ve made 84 movies, how many have you made?” to which Reeves retorted with “two good ones!” AIP expected Witchfinder General to be a lowbrow, minor hit and instead hoped to cash-in quickly and use it as a tax write-off. Prior to its release, the BBFC cut two minutes of what they deemed “excesses in sadistic brutality” with Reeves eventually refusing to make any further cuts.
The film’s premiere was naturally met with controversy with many viewers being repulsed, nauseated, and frightened by its sadism although appreciation for it grew with time. The film, retitled The Conqueror Worm in the United States to capitalize off the success of Corman’s Poe adaptations, was re-cut with an introduction read by Price. Known to audiences for his campy theater acting, Price delivers arguably one of his best and most serious performances – cold, straight-forward, calculated, mean, and ultimately sadistic. Ian Ogilvy, childhood friend of Reeves, is competent as Richard Marshall, the tragic hero who is overcome with bloodlust upon learning Hopkins’ rape of and accusations against his fiancee. The film’s story moves fluidly aided greatly by music of Paul Ferris (who makes a cameo as the distraught husband in the beginning watching his wife being burned). The cinematography and landscapes are gorgeous showcasing English countrysides hardly seen in British films before that time. Reeves’ attention to detail in regards to set pieces and costumes are admirable given the budget constraints.
Most important is the meticulous direction of Reeves – precise, meaningful, and never shying away from its gruesome imagery. At times, Witchfinder General plays like a documentary of the superstitious 17th century. While a large part of the story is fictionalized, it’s tough not to argue that these atrocities, prejudiced views, and gross injustices did take place, and still do, in some way whether it’s in the seedy underbelly of a rich, suburban neighborhood or a decrepit back alley of an inner city.
It goes without saying that Witchfinder General is a mean film and while some have argued that it revels in its sadism, Reeves’ film is instead no worse than the exploitative nightly news of that time showing race riots, African Americans being sprayed by fire hoses and attacked by police dogs, burning Vietnamese villages, displaced and dead Vietnamese civilians, and a death count of American soldiers rising every day.
The film also touches upon the ideas of tradition against the old guard versus the enlightened and youthful vanguard. In the 17th century world, religious superstition and witch hunts reigned supreme which were no different than the post-war 1950s United States government blacklisting suspected communists, stamping “IN GOD WE TRUST” on currency, and inserting the words “UNDER GOD” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Matthew Hopkins, who freely abuses his power and is morally corrupt, represents everything wrong with tyrannical governments throughout history ranging from Nazi Germany’s forceful anschluss and lebensraum policies to the Roman Catholic Inquisition’s arrest of and orders for Galileo to recant his support of a heliocentric universe. The United States is not faultless here either by fighting proxy wars in Asia and the Middle East to suppress ideologies against the wishes of their own people. Hopkins is the embodiment of abusive authority that rides a moral high horse guided by their own self-interest and operates cruelly with impunity.
Richard Marshall, the young roundhead who fights with Oliver Cromwell against the tyranny of King Charles I, is the spirit of revolution, enlightenment, and counterculture that protested across the globe in 1968 against traditional ideas and injustice. Reeves’ youthful and no-holds-barred exuberance holds the film together giving viewers not only shocks, blood, and taboo but also some ideas to mull over. Witchfinder General has themes and images rooted in our history as human beings and our exploitative treatment of those less fortunate and powerful.
Although highly fictionalized, it all comes back to the real Matthew Hopkins. While not much is known about Hopkins’ early life, his witch hunting escapades with assistant John Stearne (also a real person) have become mythic and somewhat legendary involving torture methods such as pricking, hangings, sleep deprivation, and cutting the suspects’ arms with a blunt knife to draw blood. Most interesting is the ‘swimming test’ which involved the suspect to be tied to a chair and thrown in water. Because witches were believed to have renounced their baptism, any suspect that floated was convicted of witchcraft because the water ‘rejected them’. Although numbers vary based on the source, it is argued that Hopkins and company were responsible for the deaths of over 300 women.
As described in the book and shown in the movie, the real life Hopkins and his thugs did face opposition. Hopkins and Stearne were both questioned by English courts toward the end of their witch hunting tenure with some opposition calling for the banning of witch finding all together. Before any investigation could be carried out further, Hopkins retired and published his book The Discovery of Witches in 1647 which would go on to influence witch hunting in Connecticut and the surrounding New England area. Many of Hopkins’ methods of torture would resurface in the infamous Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It is largely believed that he carried his hunts out for monetary gain and possibly notoriety exploiting the chaotic conditions during the English Civil War.
Unlike the movie, which features a rather worthy, justly, and satisfying demise for our fiendish antagonist, the real life Hopkins died in the comfort of his home most likely from tuberculosis receiving full burial honors days later in the village of Mistley in Essex County. Despite burial records at the church registry, rumors and myths, of course, surround Hopkins’ death with many saying that he instead died after being subjected to the ‘swimming test’ and subsequently executed. Cause of death aside, Hopkins’ infamy lives on in film (Ken Russell’s The Devils; Michael Armstrong’s Mark of the Devil; Jess Franco’s The Blood Judge), music (Doom Metal), and is a dark reflection of our human nature and a cautionary tale against the dangers of superstition.
– Jeff Beauchamp
