''Witchcraft'' is a 1964 British

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

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 ''The Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and ''Rasputin, the Mad Monk' ...

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 (Dracu ...

Jack Hedley Jack Snowdon Hawkins (28 October 1929 – 11 December 2021), better known as Jack Hedley, was an English film, voice, radio, stage, character, theater, screen and television actor best known for his performances on television. His birth name n ...

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 se ...

. The script was written by Harry Spalding.

Plot

In the 17th century, in order to take over the Whitlock family's properties, the rival Lanier family accused Vanessa 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- ...

) 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 ( Diane Clare) and Todd Lanier ( David Weston), 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 (Barry Linehan) 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 ( Viola Keats). 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 ( Marie Ney). One night, Bill's wife Tracy (

) follows Amy into the Whitlock family crypt, which is located 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 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 back in the house, Todd goes back in the crypt to look for Amy, who was participating in the rituals with her family. When her uncle gets ready 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 cultural rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet. Its elevation helps circulate air, feeding oxygen to the fire. Braziers h ...

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) *

as Bill Lanier *

as Tracy Lanier * Viola Keats as Helen Lanier * Marie Ney as Malvina Lanier * David Weston as Todd Lanier * Diane Clare as Amy Whitlock *

as Vanessa Whitlock * Barry Linehan as Myles Forrester * Victor Brooks as Inspector Baldwin * Marianne Stone as Forrester's Secretary * John Dunbar as Doctor * Hilda Fenemore as Nurse (as Hilda Fennemore)

Production

Writer

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 * ...

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'' 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 Rosenberg, Max J. Rosenberg. Amicus means "friendship" in Latin. The partnership pro ...

wanted to work with Sharp and offered him a choice of three scripts to make but Sharp liked neither. He wound up making ''Witchcraft''. Sharp liked the script for ''Witchcraft'', calling it "a damn good story" although he felt 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 Robert Lenard Lippert (March 31, 1909 – November 16, 1976) was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in ...

productions had back in the US.John Hamilton, ''The British Independent Horror Film 1951-70'' Hemlock Books 2013 p 124-128 Sharp said in an interview 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. the same year. Don Sharp says the film received "marvelous notices" and claimed because the film was so cheap to make it made its cost back in "the first two weeks in California".

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.

'' 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 begun by MGM in March 2001 following its acquisition of Orion Pictures, which bought out Filmways, the owner of American Int ...

range of classic and cult horror films, in 2007.

References

External links

* * * {{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