The Witches (1966)
Directed by Cyril Frankel

Film Review

The Witches is one of Hammer's less successful forays into the supernatural thriller genre, a cumbersome and somewhat stilted production that offers few chills and fairs very poorly when compared with contemporary thrillers, such as those being made by Roman Polanski.  In a bid to revive her ailing career, actress Joan Fontaine persuaded Hammer to make the film, based on Norah Lofts' novel The Devil's Own, to which she owned the rights.  As it turned out, the film was not a great success and it was to be the last film Fontaine would appear in.

The screenplay was written by Nigel Kneale, who is best known for scripting the hugely popular Quatermass serials in the 1950s.  It has to be said that this is not one of Kneale's best works.  After a promising start, the narrative soon becomes rambling and uneven, culminating in a spectacularly unconvincing denouement which has B movie written all over it, in gigantic purple letters.  The mannered performances hardly help matters, and you might easily mistake the film for a parody were it not for the fact that it takes itself far too seriously.  It's not quite as bad as some of Hammer's other supernatural horror offerings but it could have been much more effective - had it been better scripted and directed more imaginatively.

Film Synopsis

Whilst working as a teacher in Africa, Gwen Mayfield suffers a nervous breakdown when the natives turn against her and subject her to a terrifying ritual.  After her recovery, several months later, Gwen finds a job in England, teaching in a small private school in a rural village.  At first, Gwen could hardly be happier.  She gets on well with her neighbours and finds the location peaceful and charming.  But then she begins to sense that all is not what it seems.  One of her pupils is taken ill and, when she finds a headless doll, Gwen begins to suspect some of the locals may be practising witchcraft.  When a villager dies mysteriously, Gwen is convinced he was murdered, but before she can investigate further she has a second nervous breakdown...