Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Tom Detweiler Hammer's had some stinkers in their history, but this awful flick has my vote for the WORST Hammer film of ALL TIME. Poor Joan Fontaine is wasted in this utterly listless, dull piece of Brit-film trash! It goes from boring to absurd, goofy and embarrassing. Reputedly a movie about witchcraft it doesn't know which type, so it throws in a mix of all varieties, even a parody of Saint Lucia! Maybe the director didn't know what direction he was headed in either. The film has the feel of a plot line sketched on a cocktail napkin.I find it interesting though, how many Brit films depict rural UK and small village residents, in a less than flattering light as parochial, stupid and superstitious oafs! Not too complimentary. Much as farmers, rural, mountain or hill people in the US are depicted by Hooeywood.Besides being almost devoid of action except for a goofy, ridiculous and superstitious genre-mixing sequence with a bunch of actors writhing around and eating... well, who knows what, there is SO much wrong with this movie that if there were a MINUS TEN, that's what I'd give it. Please don't waste time on it if you value your time!

AaronCapenBanner Cyril Frankel directed this horror tale that stars Joan Fontaine as schoolteacher Gwen Mayfield, who has returned from Africa as a missionary after an unpleasant encounter with the local witch doctor drove her out. Now hired to be the headmistress at the Haddaby school run by Alan Bax(played by Alec McCowen)and his sister Stephanie(played by Kay Walsh) Things are fine at first in this seemingly quiet English village, but sinister undercurrents present themselves as it turns out someone is leading a voodoo cult in an effort to claim power and reclaim youth, even if people have to die... Uneven film starts well, with fine performances, but someone let it slip away as it leads to a most absurdly over-the-top climax that isn't to be believed. A shame.

phillindholm One of legendary production company Hammer Films lesser known titles, ''The Witches'' was Golden Age Star Joan Fontaine's last theatrical film. She herself bought the rights to Norah Loft's ''The Devil's Own'' and brought it to Hammer, casting herself in the leading role of schoolteacher Gwen Mayfield. Ms. Mayfield is still recovering from a traumatic experience in Africa, where, while teaching , she became the target of the local Witch Doctor. Shortly after her subsequent breakdown, she accepts another teaching position in a small English village. At first, the placid atmosphere and friendly local folk seemingly aid her attempts to overcome the past. However, it's not long before she begins to sense that all is not what it appears. Fontaine, still lovely at 49, gives an incisive performance as the victimized teacher, who isn't sure at first whether or not she is imagining the disturbing events which surround her. The hand picked supporting cast, which includes such familiar faces as Leonard Rossiter (''Reginald Perrin'') Michele Dotrice, Shelagh Fraser ('Star Wars'') and, making her debut, as the target of ''The Witches'', Ingrid Boulting, here billed as Ingrid Brett. Despite excellent performances by all, the film is stolen by film veteran Kay Walsh (Oliver Twist) former wife of director David Lean, who plays free lance writer Stephanie Bax to perfection. Distinguished stage actor Alec McCowen appears as her rather ineffectual brother. Director Cyril Frankel moves things along at a leisurely pace, abetted by some splendid photography and a suitably eerie score by Richard Rodney Bennett. Alas, though the suspense is carefully cultivated from the beginning, things begin to get shaky at mid-point, when Mayfield lands in a nursing home, with her memory of the recent past gone. After a fairly lengthy stay, it's eventually restored. From here, she escapes just in time to join a frenzied climax in which the activities of the local Coven resemble an Aerobics workout at a Rescue Mission, rather than a Black Mass. Nevertheless, the wrap up is a satisfying one, and audiences who go for this sort of thing will not feel cheated. When ''The Witches'' was released in England in late 1966, it garnered some fine reviews, but little box office. For it's American debut (in early 1967) the title was changed to ''The Devil's Own'' in order to avoid confusion with an Italian film, ''The Witches'' (starring Clint Eastwood) which appeared around the same time. Unfortunately, ''The Devil's own'' ended up on the bottom half of a double bill with Hammer's abysmal ''Slave Girls'' (here dubbed ''Prehistoric Women''). and, again, it came and went quickly, much to the chagrin of Co-Produce Fontaine. Today, however, the film retains it's ability to intrigue the viewer, and thanks to it's fine cast, it remains one of Hammer's most underrated efforts.

JasparLamarCrabb An extremely well produced Hammer entry directed by Cyril Frankel. After surviving an attack by a witch doctor while working as a mission in Africa, teacher Joan Fontaine begins a new job at a boarding school in a quiet English village. She soon realizes that a lot of the population belongs to a coven of witches. Talk about lightening striking twice! Fontaine has a breakdown but recovers to confront the coven. Director Frankel creates a creepy enough atmosphere and the classy script keeps you guessing just who is friend & who is foe. Fontaine is great, nearly 50 but as striking as ever. The supporting cast includes Kay Walsh, Alec McGowen, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies (extremely creepy as Granny Rigg) and Ingrid Boulting as Linda. Boulting, a lousy actress, would appear 10 years later in Kazan's THE LAST TYCOON where she proved she'd learned absolutely zero about acting. The excellent music score is by Richard Rodney Bennett.