Comments on: “F” torture porn. This is sadism. Witchfinder General.

By: Face Puncher

Face Puncher — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:47:22 +0000

Let us not forget that this is Vincent Price’s least favorite movie of his…

By: Bryan White

Bryan White — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 14:42:28 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, Lance. The new reissue is on my must-buy list. As of right now I have a crappy R2 that reinserts the cut bits from trashed vault prints. It’s quite jarring but you always know what has been restored since the footage looks a lot different.

I don’t know what to make of old horror movies in the modern context. What you mention above about the political resonance is beginning to prove positive for a lot of movies from eras gone by. Horror has always been a mirror for our social condition but now more than ever, movies that were unique to the time they were produced are beginning to feel relevant again. American society’s complete misappropriation of priorities is easily visible upon watching Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Torture in the form of Witchfinder as well as the last wave of Hollywood horror has shown a rare outwardly visible bloodthirst by the American public and permissiveness of secret prisons and the things that go on on there. I mention the parallels between our government now and the government of Escape From New York.

It’s pretty frightening when you put it all into context. Things are swinging back around, as it were.

By: Lance Lawson

Lance Lawson — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:42:54 +0000

Nice review. I have always felt that WG is one of the very best horror films to ever come out of the U.K. And you are so right about the tone. I saw this upon its first release in the States as a young teen at a drive-in when it was entitled “The Conqueror Worm”. I saw the infamous alignment of Edgar Allan Poe and Vincent Price, and went in expecting another campy American International entry. Not until Ken Russell’s “The Devils” would I again emerge from a screening in a such a state of shell-shock.

The fact that this film has just (Sept. 2007) been re-released in the States on DVD under its original name is truly a gift from the gawds. This newly released version eliminates the American pre-credit Poe poem reading (which was added to take advantage of its successful Poe horror films), it offers a stunningly superior anamorphic transfer and also restores the original orchestral score by Paul Ferris that was eliminated for copyright reasons from previous US “Conqueror Worm” video releases.

A brilliant film, both frightening and mesmerizing. And its political resonance remains timely, as we continue to view with suspicion those that look and worship in ways different from “us”.

And the film is certainly worth remembering for the unfulfilled promise of its young director Michael Reeves, the Brit wunderkind who was 24 when he wrote and directed this, but sadly died a few months after its release of an overdose following a bout of depression. His premature loss stands with that of Jean-Claude Lauzon as among the most devastating premature departures in the history of cinema. “Witchfinder General” has long been declared one of the best British horror films ever made, and for very good reason.

By: Bryan White

Bryan White — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 11:37:00 +0000

That’s what I was implying about the whole thing. They’re not just violent. As intense as they are, I’ve seen worse. You pretty much sum it up right there, though. The violence is at the front of the movie and they really want you to see everything go down up close and personal. How you get to each torture scene is irrelevant.

I would probably watch the movie you just described, though. It sounds hot.

By: Dave Munger

Dave Munger — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 02:21:40 +0000

I think the idea of calling movies like Saw “torture porn” isn’t so much that the violence and gore are excessive, as that the whole rest of the movie feels like just an excuse for the torture scenes. It’s like a movie where the pool guy comes by, gets mutilated, then they order a pizza and mutilate the pizza guy, then a blonde and an Asian girl mutilate each other. Then they tack on some kind of ending.