The Witchmaker

Dr Ralph Hayes (Alvy Moore) leads a group of psychic researchers into the wilds of a Louisiana swamp. A series of murders has Hayes thinking there might be a witch operating in the swamp. One of his team, Anastasia (Thordis Brandt), is a sensitive - someone tuned to picking up psychic impulses. Hayes hopes she will be able to lead them to the witch. But the local witch, Luther the Berserk (John Lodge), has his own plans. He wants Anastasia in his coven. He starts killing off Hayes' team one-by-one. Can Hayes and Co save Anastasia and the rest of their group?

The Witchmaker isn't what I'd call a good movie in the traditional sense, but it is reasonably effective and enjoyable if you're into this kind of thing. The biggest plus The Witchmaker has going for it is atmosphere. At times, the atmosphere is palatable. The isolation, the creepy swamp, the Satanic trappings, and the even the low budget look of the film - all worked on me and filled me with a real sense of unease. If there's one thing that really creeps me out, it's low-budget Satanic mumbo-jumbo. Also, I thought John Lodge was particularly effective as Luther. He uses his size to his advantage as he attacks the members of Hayes' group. It's a really frightening visage.



As my rating indicates, the movie isn't perfect to me. The biggest issue I have is Alvy Moore. The problem is that as long as I've been alive, Alvy Moore has always been Hank Kimble from Green Acres. You see, not only is Green Acres on of my two or three favorite television shows, but the stammering, forgetful Kimble is my favorite character. I can't look at the man and not think of Kimble. So when, as Dr Hayes, he's trying to give some sort of scientific explanation to what's happening, it doesn't work. It sounds so silly coming out of Alvy Moore's mouth. I complimented the film's atmosphere, but unfortunately, Alvy Moore ruins whatever atmosphere the film has built up at that point. He goes off-screen, things get creepy. He comes back, not so creepy. It's too bad for The Witchmaker that Alvy Moore was so good at playing light, zany comedy.

In THE WITCHMAKER, eight women have been killed in the same bizarre, ritualistic fashion. All in the same bayou. Psychic researcher, Dr. Hayes (Alvy Moore) and his team, along with a reporter, have arrived to investigate the phenomenon

This is a fantastic drive-in movie of the period, full of occult horror, suspense, and a general atmosphere of impending doom. Moore plays his role straight, without a hint of his TV persona from Green Acres. Nor does he smirk with ironic self-awareness. He's serious, and it works!

Thordis Brandt's character, Tasha, is what is known in the film as a "sensitive", what might be called an "empath" today. Tasha becomes the central character, mixed up with the wicked practitioners of the dark arts, including the insane, aptly named "Luther The Berserk" (John Lodge), and an ancient witch known as Jessie (Helene Winston).

Aside from the odd moment of clunkiness, this is a solid offering of paranoia and dread...

After four local girls are found, murdered, hung up downside down in tree, and drained of blood in a Louisians swamp , an intrepid documentary team comes to investigate. They're actually a lot more intrepid than intelligent though because they decide to stay in an isolated cabin in the middle of the swamp with their only way in or out being a local yokel in a boat who promises to come back and get them in a week, but is incommunicado in the meantime. One of the female members of the team is a "sensitive" who is attuned to witches and who had a grandmother who was an actual witch. The perpetrators turn out to be a female witch, Jessie, and a male "berserker", Lucas, who maintain their youth by drinking human blood. They make short work of most of the team, but take special interest in the "sensitive" who they hope to add to their coven.

This has elements of a lot of future movies--not only "The Blair Witch Project", but also "The Legend of Hell House" as well as other Louisiana-filmed regional obscurities like "The Crypt of Dark Secrets". On the other hand, however, this film is really quite unique in a lot of ways and there never has really been another film like it. It kind of invents its own mythology what with the "berserker", the witches who stay young by drinking blood(which sounds more like vampires), and odd facts like garlic making one invisible to witches and pig's blood being very bad for black masses. The film is also strange in that it in many ways seems like a 50's film, but then it also contains some surprisingly graphic violence and not-so-graphic sex and nudity, and it has the kind of nihilistic ending much more common in 70's films. The most weird and memorable aspect though comes at the end when the villains hold a coven meeting/black sabbath and their coven turns out to include any number of witches, real and fictional, from throughout history, including "Goody Hale" (one of the few Salem residents NOT accused of witchcraft).

The cast is mostly unknowns. The male lead was in "Green Acres", I guess. Two of the coven members are Patricia Wymer (as the "Hag of Devon") and Sue Bernard (as "Felicity Johnson"). Wymer played the titular (and ass-ular) character in "The Babysitter" and also appeared in "The Young Graduates". Bernard, a former Playboy Playmate, had been the bikini-clad girl in Russ Meyers "Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill" and appeared in a number of 70's horror/exploitation films such as Bert Gordon's "The Witching" (also somewhat similar to this) and Curtis Harrington's "The Killing Kind". The pair have all of about two lines between them here, but this isn't really a film that depends much on actors (although the guy playing "Lucas" is pretty good). It gets plenty of mileage just out of its genuinely unique weirdness.

Alvy Moore leads a group of individuals into the deep swamplands to investigate paranormal activities. As luck would have it, this little neck of the bayou has been the locus of several ritual murders over the past couple of years, of which all the victims were pretty young girls. One of the crew of outsiders(the lovely and zaftig Thordis Brandt) is the descendant of a witch, and her presence piques the interest of an evil warlock determined to recruit her into his coven.

Despite its financial strife, The Witchmaker is an atmospheric, smartly made production with an effective curveball ending, and I suspect it may be a bit more lettered in illustrating the various wonts of occultism than many other films of its type. Surprisingly scary at points, and benefiting from a creepy score by Jaime Mendoza-Nava, this one's worth seeking out(if only for the scene of Ms. Brandt running slow-motion and topless through the swamp, cupping her hands over her gigantic bare breasts).

7/10

Been a huge fan of this flick for many moons....never get tired of old Luther chanting his praises for his almighty "Satan"..pretty ahead of it's time and very real when it comes to the berserker\witchcraft genre..Can't understand why this film is virtually unknown even to real horror buffs....Worth seeking out...Still no official DVD release of this little gem.....worth a remake....Satan....GIVE ME MY PURPOSE!!!!!..........and check out the cool Louisiana bayou atmosphere very creepy and foggy....Love Luther's digs.....Too bad most of the cast including the amazing John Lodge are all taking dirt naps..Would also like to know why the director William o. Brown fell off the face of the earth after this picture was made way back in 1969....