Witchfinder General is a 1968 Vincent Price film that, with intense cruelty, violence, and a deeply nihilistic view of mankind, proves difficult to watch over four decades later. Set in England in 1645, the film takes place during a time of brutal violence. Not only was it the height of the English Civil War, the persecution of supposed "witches" was in full swing as well. Price plays Matthew Hopkins, a pious witch hunter who travels the countryside with his assistant/henchman John Stearne, rooting out witches (for a price) in the towns they visit. After stopping in Suffolk, Hopkins and Stearne learn that a local priest, John Lowes, is accused of witchcraft. They accost him at his house and stick needles in his back, looking for the "devil's mark", while taking obvious pleasure in his pain. Meanwhile, Lowes' niece, Sara, begs Hopkins to let her uncle go. He says he's willing to listen to her testimony...in her bedroom later that night.
Meanwhile, Sara's fiance, Richard Marshall, is off fighting for the Roundheads. When he returns to find John Lowes executed and Sara completely distraught, he takes off after Hopkins and Stearne, vowing to kill them. Needless to say, things don't really turn out well for anyone in the film. The final scene, in which Hopkins has captured the young couple and forces Marshall to watch the torture of his beloved, is truly devastating and shows how violence and bloodlust infects and destroys everyone it touches, torturers and victims alike.
Released under the title The Conquerer Worm in the United States (the title comes from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, which has no direct relation to the film), the film was shocking and controversial in its day. Critics argued, much as they do with certain films today, whether the movie glorified violence or honestly showed the horrendous consequences of violence in the name of righteousness. To be certain, the film has an exploitative feel to it. Screaming victims, mostly women, are shown being drowned, hanged, tortured, raped, and burned alive. Yet the film does not revel in their suffering. Rather, it presents a grim picture of unchecked sadism in the name of religion. Its violence isn't elegant or sexy or glamourous--it's merely brutal and unrelenting. And the characters' feelings of desperation and hatred are palpable.
Witchfinder General isn't fun or pleasant, but it is a good film with a damning message: violence is like a virus. It's catching, and it can infect an entire community. Those who perpetuate it may have the upper hand at first, but they too eventually become victims of their own cruelty.
4 out of 5 stars
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