Witchfinder General (1968)

Director:

Michael Reeves

Writers:

Tom Baker (writer)
Ronald Bassett (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

1968 (Norway)

Genre:

History | Horror

Tagline:

The Year's Most Violent Film! [UK Theatrical]

Plot:

England is torn in civil strife as the Royalists battle the Parliamentary Party for control. This conflict...

Plot Keywords:

Religious Nut | 1600s | Witch | Tavern | Torture

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Matthew Hopkins
Ian Ogilvy	...	Richard Marshall
Rupert Davies	...	John Lowes
Hilary Heath	...	Sarah Lowes (as Hilary Dwyer)
Robert Russell	...	John Stearne
Nicky Henson	...	Trooper Robert Swallow
Tony Selby	...	Tom Salter
Bernard Kay	...	Fisherman
Godfrey James	...	Webb
Michael Beint	...	Captain Gordon
John Trenaman	...	Trooper Harcourt
Bill Maxwell	...	Trooper Gifford
Paul Ferris	...	Paul Clark (as Morris Jar)
Maggie Kimberly	...	Elizabeth Clark
Peter Haigh	...	Lavenham magistrate
Hira Talfrey	...	Hanged woman
Anne Tirard	...	Old woman
Peter Thomas	...	Farrier
Edward Palmer	...	Shepherd
David Webb	...	Jailer
Lee Peters	...	Sergeant
David Lyell	...	Footsoldier
Alf Joint	...	Sentry
Martin Terry	...	Hoxne innkeeper
Jack Lynn	...	Brandeston innkeeper
Beaufoy Milton	...	Priest
Dennis Thorne	...	Villager
Michael Segal	...	Villager
Toby Lennon	...	Old man
Margaret Nolan	...	Girl at inn (as Maggie Nolan)
Sally Douglas	...	Girl at inn
Donna Reading	...	Girl at inn
Patrick Wymark	...	Gen. Oliver Cromwell
Wilfrid Brambell	...	Master Loach (as Wilfred Brambell)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gillian Aldam	...	Hanged woman (uncredited)
Gillian Aldham	...	(uncredited)
Susi Field	...	(uncredited)
John Kidd	...	(uncredited)
David Reynolds-Lacey	...	Unconcious drunk in tavern (uncredited)
Philip Waddilove	...	(uncredited)
Derek Ware	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Reeves

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tom Baker		writer
Ronald Bassett		novel
Louis M. Heyward		additional scenes
Edgar Allan Poe		poem "The Conqueror Worm"
Michael Reeves		writer

Produced by
Louis M. Heyward	....	producer
Arnold L. Miller	....	producer (as Arnold Miller)
Tony Tenser	....	executive producer
Philip Waddilove	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Ferris
Kendall Schmidt		(US version)

Cinematography by
John Coquillon

Film Editing by
Howard Lanning

Casting by
Freddie Vale

Art Direction by
Jim Morahan

Makeup Department
Dorrie Hamilton	....	makeup artist (as Dore Hamilton)
Henry Montsash	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Ricky Howard	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ian Goddard	....	assistant director
Iain Lawrence	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dennis Cantrell	....	construction manager
Sid Davies	....	props
Fred Harrison	....	props
Jimmy James	....	set dresser
Andrew Low	....	set dresser
Peter Sheilds	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Dennis Lanning	....	dubbing editor
Helena Lanning	....	foley artist
Paul Le Mare	....	sound recordist
Hugh Strain	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Roger Dicken	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Gerry Anstiss	....	camera operator (as Gerry Anstice)
Tony Breeze	....	assistant camera
Jack Dooley	....	still photographer
Brian Elvin	....	camera operator
Chris Reynolds	....	assistant camera
Laurie Shane	....	gaffer
Freddie Williams	....	grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jill Thompson	....	wardrobe (as Jill Thomson)

Editorial Department
Marion Curren	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Paul Ferris	....	conductor
Kenneth V. Jones	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Pat O'Donnell	....	production secretary
Ewan Pearson	....	location manager
Lorna Selwyn	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Tigon British Film Productions
• American International Productions

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Castle Pictures Ltd. (1990) (UK) (VHS)
• Castle Vision (1991) (UK) (VHS)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Cinema Club (2000) (UK) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc) (with "The Tomb of Ligeia")
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Metrodome Distribution (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Orion Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Prism Leisure Corporation (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Redemption Films (1995) (UK) (VHS) (as Redemption Video)
• Shocking Videos (????) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Target (1987) (UK) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Headquarters Staff Stanford Practical Training Area, The  for their kind co-operation in the making of this film, the producers wish to thank the following (as The Headquarters Staff Stanford Practical Training Area)
• Lavenham Parish Council, The  for their kind co-operation in the making of this film, the producers wish to thank the following (as The Lavenham Parish Council)
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Ministry of Defence  for their kind co-operation in the making of this film, the producers wish to thank the following (as The Ministry of Defence Army Department)
• Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Regiment, The  for their kind co-operation in the making of this film, the producers wish to thank the following (as The Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Regiment)

Also Known As:

Edgar Allan Poe's Conqueror Worm
Matthew Hopkins: Conqueror Worm (USA) (alternative title)
Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General (USA)
The Conqueror Worm (USA)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Australia:R | Finland:(Banned) (1972) | Germany:18 | Norway:16 (1968) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Lavenham, Suffolk, England, UK

Company:

Tigon British Film Productions

Trivia:

Director Michael Reeves wanted Donald Pleasence to play Matthew Hopkins, but AIP, the American distributor and co-financier of the film, insisted that Vincent Price play the title character, and Reeves grudgingly accepted.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Toward the end, when the soldiers are storming the castle to rescue Sarah, one of them kicks a sentry in the face and sends him down the staircase, but the kick obviously misses by a mile.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[United States Conqueror Worm versions]
Matthew Hopkins: [voiceover] LO! 't is a gala night/Within the lonesome latter years./An angel throng, bewinged, bedight/In veils, and drowned in tears,/Sit in a theatre to see/A play of hopes and fears,/While the orchestra breathes fitfully/The music of the spheres."

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

HAUNTING AND UNFORGETTABLE

This supreme 60's movie is of a type that the U.K.could probably not make any more,obsessed as it is with making contemporary movies about drug addicts and similar social misfits.Matthew Hopkins was a misfit too but his story is a compelling one and is based on historical fact.There was a Matthew Hopkins and he was the Witchfinder General in the time of Oliver Cromwell.This movie is not horror but it is genuinely horrifying,it is not an action/adventure yet it has great action throughout.It is not a love story yet it has some of the most lyrical lovemaking scenes ever filmed.It is not a Western though it has much in common with the story structure of one. "WITCHFINDER GENERAL" is unique and the work of a young director who even had he not died shortly after may never have equalled his work here.The cast is uniformly excellent with Ian Ogilvy as dashing a hero as Price is a dastardly villain.For soundtrack lovers it has an evocative and effective score as well.Seek this one out and wonder if there was another Witchfinder General of more recent times who exorcised the British of the ability to make good,universally appealing movies.