''Witchcraft'' (also known as ''Witches and Warlocks'') is a 1964 British

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by

Don Sharp Donald Herman Sharp (19 April 192114 December 2011) was an Australian film director. His best known films were made for Hammer Film Productions, Hammer in the 1960s, and included ''Kiss of the Vampire (film), Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and ' ...

and starring

Lon Chaney Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dracula ...

, Jack Hedley and

Jill Dixon Jill Dixon (born 1935) is an English actress. Personal life and career Jill Dixon was born in England in 1935. She made her debut as an actress at the age of three, appearing as a water nymph at the London Hippodrome. Although she appeared in s ...

. The script was written by

Harry Spalding Harry Spalding (1913–2008) was an American writer best known for the films he wrote for Robert L. Lippert and director Maury Dexter. He later worked for the Walt Disney Company. He sometimes wrote under the name "Henry Cross". Select credits ...

Plot

In the 17th century, in order to take over the Whitlock family's properties, the rival Lanier family accused Vanessa Whitlock of witchcraft and had her buried alive. As a consequence, the Whitlocks still maintain a bitter hatred of the Laniers to the present day. However, two young descendants, Amy Whitlock and Todd Lanier, fall in love with each other regardless of the objections of Amy's stern uncle, Morgan Whitlock. Todd is a business associate of his older brother Bill Lanier. They are building developers who plan to transform and renovate the old Whitlock estate. Without their knowledge, their business partner Myles Forrester instructs his workers to bulldoze over headstones and graves in the old Whitlock Cemetery, enraging Morgan Whitlock. From an exhumed grave emerges Vanessa Whitlock, still alive after three centuries. The Whitlocks still practice the old religion, and Morgan leads a coven that soon embraces Vanessa's return. Using her hex powers, they caused the mysterious deaths of Myles Forrester, as well as Bill and Todd's aunt, Helen. Morgan is arrested as a suspect in the Forrester case, and the Laniers take Amy in while her uncle is in custody. More incidents nearly take the life of Bill, Todd and their grandmother Malvina. While Bill and Todd are away on business, Bill's wife Tracy follows Amy into the Whitlock family crypt near the old Whitlock mansion, now residence of the Laniers. In a secret chamber deep inside the crypt, Tracy witnesses Amy, Morgan and the rest of the coven perform magic rites which include sacrificing an infant. Tracy is captured and tied up, to be used as a human sacrifice. Looking for Tracy, Bill and Todd enter the Whitlock crypt, where they find and rescue her. Once Bill has taken Tracy to the house, Todd goes back into the crypt to look for Amy, who was participating in the rituals with her family. As her uncle is about to kill Todd, Amy is pushed past her breaking point and tips over a giant

brazier A brazier () is a container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel for cooking, heating or rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet, but in some places it is made of terracotta. Its elevation helps circulate air, feed ...

that sets Vanessa and the entire room on fire. Todd tries to reach Amy but the entire crypt has turned into a raging inferno, which soon extends to the adjoining mansion. Screaming her name, he can only watch as the flames consume everything and everyone. Later, a broken Todd joins his family outside and watches the Whitlock estate burn to the ground, ending the 300-year-old feud.

Cast

as Morgan Whitlock (as Lon Chaney) * Jack Hedley as Bill Lanier *

as Tracy Lanier *

Viola Keats Viola Keats (1911–1998) was a British stage, film and television actress. ''The Independent'' called her "an actress of vigour and conviction." After training at RADA, her first appearance on the London Stage was at the Apollo Theatre in 1933 ...

as Helen Lanier *

Marie Ney Marie Ney (18 July 1895 — 11 April 1981) was a British character actress who had an acting career spanning five decades, from 1919 to 1969, encompassing both stage and screen. Early life Ney was born in London, and as a young child, went with ...

as Malvina Lanier * David Weston as Todd Lanier *

Diane Clare Diane Clare (born Diane Dirsztay; 8 July 1938 – 21 June 2013) was an English actress. Career Clare started acting at a young age playing uncredited baby parts in films such as '' The Ghosts of Berkeley Square'' and '' The Silver Fleet'', and ...

as Amy Whitlock *

Yvette Rees Yvette Rees, (22 May 1924 Swansea, Wales – 1993 in Ealing, London) born Eiros Yvette Rees, was a Welsh actress who appeared in many TV series and several noteworthy films in the 1960s. She trained at RADA, and graduated in 1949. In the mid-197 ...

as Vanessa Whitlock * Barry Linehan as Myles Forrester * Victor Brooks as Inspector Baldwin *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone app ...

as Forrester's secretary * John Dunbar as doctor *

Hilda Fenemore Hilda Lilian Fenemore (22 April 1914 – 13 April 2004) was an English actress with a prolific career in film and television from the 1940s to the 1990s. Fenemore played mainly supporting roles which were characterised in her obituary in ''The ...

as nurse (as Hilda Fennemore)

Production

Writer

says he got the idea to make a film from an incident that happened in San Francisco when an old cemetery was converted into a real estate development. Don Sharp had received good notices for his direction of '' Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and was receiving lots of offers to do horror movies. He says

Milton Subotsky Milton Subotsky (September 27, 1921 – June 27, 1991) was an American film and television writer and producer. In 1964, he founded Amicus Productions with Max J. Rosenberg. Amicus means "friend" in Latin. The partnership produced low-budget ...

wanted to work with Sharp and offered him a choice of three scripts to make but Sharp liked none of them. He wound up making ''Witchcraft''. Sharp liked the script for ''Witchcraft'', calling it "a damn good story", although he felt that it suffered credibility problems being set in the present day. According to one account the film was shot over 14 days, which was twice what Robert L. Lippert such productions took in the US.John Hamilton, ''The British Independent Horror Film 1951–70'' Hemlock Books 2013 p 124-128 Sharp said in an interview that it took twenty days. Filming took place in January 1964 at Shepperton Studios just after 110 technicians had been fired from the studio. Spalding says that director Don Sharp "realized the thing very well" and burnt down an actual house for the climax.

Release

''Witchcraft'' was released in the UK in March 1964 and in the U.S. later the same year. Don Sharp says the film received "marvellous notices" and claimed that because the film was so cheap to make it made its cost back in "the first two weeks in California".

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "This is an unpretentious and uncommonly gripping horror film, directed by Don Sharp rather after the style of the

Val Lewton Val Lewton (May 7, 1904 – March 14, 1951) was a Russian-American novelist, film producer, and screenwriter best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. His son, also named Val Lewton, was a pai ...

films. The backgrounds are quietly realistic, with grey, atmospheric photography, matter-of-fact underplaying from Jack Hedley and Jill Dixon, and a more tormented, grander style of acting from the ambiguous Malvina (Marie Ney. ... on Chaneyhuffs and puffs to a degree where he seems not only out of place but completely out of his own control and everybody's else's." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Eerie music, low-key photography, competent acting and a gimmick-filled plot combine to make the horror-feature ''Witchcraft'' a good example of its kind. The Robert Lippert-Jack Parsons production has the added feature of a plastic 'witch deflector' for each viewer. This, along with heavy sell-promotion, should attract audiences addicted to horror films. ...Chaney tended to overact, but others in cast handled chores in workmanlike fashion, with Diane Clare particularly appealing as the ingénue. Arthur Lavis' photography was competent for a horror story, with murky shots of church steeples and graveyards through ever-present fog."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Spasmodically arresting horror film spoiled by too complex a plot line and some variable acting."

Home media

''Witchcraft'' was released on Region 1 DVD, along with ''

Devils of Darkness ''Devils of Darkness'' is a 1965 British horror film directed by Lance Comfort and starring William Sylvester, Hubert Noël and Carole Gray. It was written by Lyn Fairhurst. It was the last feature film directed by Comfort. Plot Count Sini ...

'' as part of the

Midnite Movies ''Midnite Movies'' is a line of B movies released first on VHS and later on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment. The line was launched by MGM in March 2001 following its acquisition of Orion Pictures, which bought out Filmways, the owner of American ...

range of classic and cult horror films, in 2007.

References

External links

*
''Witchcraft''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witchcraft (1964 Film) 1964 films British black-and-white films British supernatural horror films Folk horror films 1964 horror films Films directed by Don Sharp Films about witchcraft 20th Century Fox films Lippert Pictures films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films English-language horror films