jimpayne1967 This should be one of Hammer's best. A strong cast led by Bona Fide Hollywood royalty who has top class support from some fine actors including Alec McCowen and Leonard Rossiter two of my favourite characters. With the normally reliable Nigel Kneale providing the screenplay this should be a classic. The film looks great- and the print quality is way up from the pretty much contemporary The Reptile which I also saw recently- and it is bursting with ideas but is still nothing more than quite good. The feel of the movie has touches of The Night of the Demon in that the pace is deceptively leisurely and it foreshadows the likes of Rosemary's Baby in that apparently down-to-earth, benevolent types are revealed to be devil worshippers and most obviously the Wicker Man in that a young girl is used as bait to tempt an apparently untouchable outsider into mayhem but it is vastly inferior to those three films and indeed the aforementioned Reptile which although cheap looking and bedevilled with laughable effects remains tense, disturbing and best of all unpredictable throughout. There are good bits in the Witches all right - the skinning of a hare by the apparently affable butcher (my excellent compatriot Duncan Lamont) and the scenes in which La Fontaine acts with children are small moments of real excellence- but it is not scary and the ending makes no sense even before the ludicrous, cheesy finale in which the deeply disturbed McCowen suddenly seems like a swell fellow. There are obvious weaknesses in the story- it has a happy ending for a start- which a better director would have been better at papering over, characters like Fontaine's fellow teacher played by Ann Bell go nowhere and above all that the lush, vaguely butch journalist sibling of McCowen (played by Kay Walsh) is so obviously a 'wrong un' destroys any possibility of suspense. And that is a pity because Ms Walsh was good and steals every scene she is in. Fontaine is also part of the problem. Uncharitably she may have been a touch old for her role but in the film's early scenes she is fine especially, as mentioned earlier, when she is acting with the little children. She suits the low key early scenes but as the film progresses her expression freezes as does her badly over lacquered hair. I gather she did not enjoy the experience of working on such a low budget film and most of the time it is hard not to avoid the impression that she thinks she is above the film she is in. Maybe she is but she is emphatically outperformed by Walsh, McCowen and Rossiter in the scenes she shares with these great actors. The Witches should be a classic but it is not- but it is not a total failure either.

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.

LeonLouisRicci This is one of the Mid-Range Hammer Horror Films and even the Famous Studios Biggest Fans are mostly Disappointed in this Sometimes Creepy, Sometimes Silly Misfire. Its Parts are much more than the Whole and it tends to be Rather Limp in both Design and Denouement.The Weak Looking and Often Ridiculous Ending is the most Talked About, although it is not as Bad as its Reputation. After All, a Real Satanic Ritual in all its Orgiastic Glory must Look just as Silly from Afar.Joan Fontaine is not Bad but at Times seems a bit out of it and Wavers between Elation and Depression Unconvincingly, but it Fits Somewhat in Her Characters Struggle with Sanity. There is Enough Atmosphere to Set the Scene and there Always seems to be Evil Afoot, but just what is the Depth of that Evil?The Talky Script is Sharp, but the Whole Thing Never quite Reaches that Eerie Elegance that is a Constant in Most Hammer Movies. Overall it is worth a Look and has just Enough going for it that the Slow Pace doesn't Stop the Entertainment.

Coventry When listing all the numerous horror/thriller successes that the legendary British Hammer studios brought forward, "The Witches" is a title that rarely ever – in fact NEVER – gets mentioned. It's also fairly easy to figure out why in this case, and it's not just because the film wasn't directed by one of the studio's most prominent directors (Terence Fisher, Val Guest, Freddie Francis…) and/or because it wasn't starring any of the regular genre icons (Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough…). "The Witches" is, simply put, a vastly inferior product and hardly even worthy of the Hammer quality label. The story, although nearly bursting with great potential and endless possibilities, is incoherent and dull. There nearly isn't enough action or suspense, the stupendous filming locations and scenery are sadly underused and the climax – which finally comes after an incredibly tedious middle section – is preposterous, dumb and makes you regret all the precious time you wasted until then. You know you're in trouble when the most exciting and horrific sequence of the entire movie deals with the lead actress being overrun by horde of sheep! The lovely and charismatic Joan Fontaine stars as Mrs. Mayfield; a schoolteacher who's still somewhat mentally unbalanced following a trauma she experienced whilst residing in a primitive African tribe. She's more than happy to accept a peaceful teaching job in the British countryside, but nightmares ensue when it gradually appears that nearly the entire community takes part in witchcraft rites. "The Witches" is insufferably talkative and predictable throughout. The only aspect that I didn't see coming was how ridiculous the climax sequences would be… The spastic dancing and imbecilic facial expressions of the people in the crowd make it one of the most pitiable endings I've ever seen. I feel sorry for Joan Fontaine, even more so because – reportedly – she personally approached Hammer Studios in order to turn the novel into a movie.