100 Horror Films: 1. The Witches (1966)

Filmed at Bray Studios between April and June 1965, and released in the UK on 21 November 1966, The Witches features Hollywood star Joan Fontaine in what was to be her last feature film. Fontaine had approached Hammer with an idea for a film based on the novel The Devil's Own, written by Norah Lofts (under the pseudonym of Peter Curtis), to which Fontaine owned the rights. Fontaine hoped that if she could find a production company to make the film, she could revive her flagging career.

Fontaine plays schoolmistress Gwen Mayfield who, having suffered a nervous breakdown following a terrifying encounter with witchdoctors during a tribal uprising whilst teaching in Africa, takes a new post as headmistress of a small private school in the village of Haddaby. Although initially slightly wary of the school's owner, Alan Bax (Alec McGowan), Gwen soon makes friends with his sister, academic and writer, Stephanie (Kay Walsh), and settles into village life.

However, it's not long before Gwen begins to discover that there is a darker side to Haddaby. When one of her pupils slips into a coma and a headless doll stuck full of pins is found nearby, she suspects that some of the villagers are dabbling with witchcraft. As events escalate, Gwen finds herself dragged further and further into a web of magical meddling that brings back memories of her experience in Africa.

By today's standards The Witches (released as The Devil's Own in the US), is certainly not a horror-packed film, and when we consider that Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby was released only two years later, it would have been tame even in 1966. Although the pace of the movie is slow, this is partly necessary due to the plot. Following Gwen Mayfield's experiences in Africa, it's essential to show that she initially sees Haddaby as a tranquil place where she can immerse herself in a peaceful village life. It would also be highly unlikely for the presence of witchcraft practices to be immediately obvious to a new arrival in a close-knit community, and so director Cyril Frankel does his best to introduce the idea gradually, without resorting to using huge jumps forward in time, which may have given a disjointed effect.

However, there's only one, bloodless and rather disappointing, onscreen death and no real shocks or scares, so if you're looking for a true horror movie, The Witches probably isn't for you. Instead, it's more of a detective drama with an occult theme, and although the identity of the coven leader is relatively obvious, it's still a fairly enjoyable film in its own way.

There are a few irritatingly unresolved plot threads and some themes and ideas that could have been more fully developed. We are never entirely sure as to who was responsible for the drowning of one of the characters or why he drowned. Although there is a suggestion that he stumbled across the coven, it's never made clear exactly what happened. It also seems bizarre that if someone was to plan a ritual in meticulous detail, that they would actively give anyone instructions on how to destroy it, no matter how confident they were.

The film does raise the interesting disticntion between traditional village witchcraft and more eclectic and studied forms of ritual magick, but whilst suggesting that both forms can destroy lives, only ritual magick is punished.

These points aside, if you enjoy old British horror movies, and Hammer films in particular, watching The Witches may be worth your while. But if you like blood, gore and real scares, try something else!