WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) * Not a pleasant film to watch, but it's fair for Michael Reeves to ask how he's supposed to make a film about the historical fact of murdering alleged witches without elements of grotesque violence and sexual exploitation. Historical epochs like this one and the Spanish Inquisition inherently involved compromised religious authority, obscene abuses of power, and the serial degradation of women. True enough, but it's not my sense that the primary purpose here is to make any sort of intellectual statement or historical indictment. That Vincent Price would condescend to grace such a picture with his presence is nothing less than a desecration of another sort. His acting continues at a high standard, but it's difficult to think anything but that he'd decided that it was nice to work for directors who couldn't afford to shoot for more than a few days, didn't interfere with his greatness by making suggestions, and paid anyway. For that matter, Rupert Davies and Hilary Dwyer (a/ka/ Hilary Heath) are better actors than are often found in this sort of thing, as well. An opportunity to tell an important story well was lost to the expedience of making a film calculated to appeal to all sorts of prejudice and prurient instincts. Paul Ferris and Jim Morahan's music is extraordinarily good, more than good enough to stand alone without the film, and best enjoyed that way.
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