Salem Witch Trials

This movie came with perfect timing. My senior high school play was "The Crucible" and this movie gave me some great in-depth as to my character (Mrs. Ann Putnam). To think that all this actually did happen is both sad and crazy. In response to the previous comment, children may have been expected to be "seen not heard", however the truth remains that that movie is a fairly accurate representation of history.

Kirstie Alley was awesome, I loved how she portrayed her character, it made me both hate her and pity her. Kudos to the actors and directors, that is a heavy intense script and to have kept your performances strong throughout is amazing.

First.... I can't believe this is a made for TV movie... seems too well acted, too many great actors, and set design/period too well done, for a "made for TV stamp" to be on this movie.

I never thought much about Shirley MacLaine.... just as a has-been sex symbol, and fluff actress (like early Natalie Wood). But when I saw this movie....WOW... she sheds all vanity and modesty, and delivers a powerful performance worthy of an (other??) Oscar. Piousness, Humbleness, sympathetic...all the qualities I thought this actress was not (didn't she do a Las Vegas show recently??)... she played all this, so movingly.

Peter Ustinov was at his best, too, playing a villain, yet showing his character as more complex, who feels sorrow at what he does, but still metes out his brand of misplaced judgment.

As high a drama as this was, I noted much of the movie as historically accurate enough, making this a great movie. On par with "Judgment at Nuremburg" (another star-clogged movie, that ended up being a great success).

I thought this was a very interesting mini series, definitely not holding back on the gruesome side of the 'old life'. They had tons of good actors and actresses stuck in and it's half the fun pointing to the people and saying, "Hey I saw them somewhere!" Even when, dissapointingly, they only have a few seconds screen space or have no name at all. (A good example is May's father)

It's horrible how the people reacted to whatever excuse they could think of first to explain the terrible deeds happening, and so much they said was Satan's or God's punishment! And how the children would target certain people, yes, you will see what I mean. Feeling important now that they are recognized.

And here's a scene to look out for. I near cried, it being so powerful, of strength and unity still within a dank prison. When Goody Nurse is in prison and praying and all the prisoners shout out what they would find God in. I wanted to join them (well, not really), and feel the first ray of light that touched their hearts in many a day.

In SALEM WITCH TRIALS, pompous, hyper-religiosity / self-righteousness are combined with ignorance and paranoia, resulting in mass hysteria. This takes place within a culture filled with superstition, rumor, and gossip.

This film shows how any theocratic society operates. The Puritans used their "religious authority" to intimidate, and ultimately eliminate those among them who were deemed to be "unclean". This was said to have been in accordance with "the will of God".

This film is as much a cautionary tale for today as it is an excellent presentation of the real historic events of the 1690's...

I was pleased to finally see Hollywood come out with a more realistic portrayal of the events surrounding one of the darkest periods in American history. The acting is excellent and the events are about as close to reality as you will ever get out of our American movie industry, which is usually incapable of portraying such historical facts without garbaging things up with special effects and their two cents worth of fiction thrown in for the purpose of maintaining the interest of those with IQ's that parallel the range of springtime temperatures. I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in this period of our history.