Arde, bruja, arde

With a title like "Burn, Witch, Burn", I certainly was expecting a lot worse. However, this film is actually quite clever, suspenseful and worth seeing.

This film begins VERY strangely. The voice of Paul Frees (who provided the voice of Boris on "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle" and the Haunted Mansion at Disney) announces that there is a demonic curse embedded within the film and he is going to neutralize it with an incantation that is made up of a lot of words for the Devil! Following this, the film begins. The story concerns Professor Taylor (Peter Wyngarde)--a successful professor at a small medical college. One day by chance, he finds some voodoo-like charms hiding around his home. It seems that his wife is a practitioner of some sort of dark art. When he confronts her, she insists the magic has contributed to his career success AND is protecting them from those who wish him harm. Not surprisingly, since he's a man of science he gathers up all her mumbo-jumbo and burns it...and then his life begins falling apart. Apparently someone IS trying to do him harm and without his charms, his and his wife's lives are at stake. But who and why?!

Aside from one brief scene involving a stuffed bird that is clearly suspended by a wire, the film is very intelligently made. The story is constructed well, is genuinely menacing and is quite enjoyable. And, although the bird is done poorly, just a moment later they make a hawk APPEAR very large and menacing in a very convincing manner. Well worth seeing--nearly earning an 8.

Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) is a successful young professor, married with Tansy Taylor (Janet Blair). He is a very skeptical man, while his wife believes in magic and witchcraft. One day, he finds lots of amulets and witchcraft in his house, and he decides to destroy all of them. His wife gets scared and advises him that he destroyed all the protection their home and lives had against the evil of envious and wicked persons, including some of his colleagues. Norman in principle does not have faith in her, but many strange events happen with him, and he changes his mind.

This English black & white low budget production is one of the most frightening movies I have ever watched. With a great direction, excellent cast having a superb performance and a tight screenplay, this movie may be considered a classic in the genre. Highly recommended for fans of horror movies, in Brazil it is only available on cable television, since Brazilian distributors have not released on VHS or DVD. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'A Filha de Satã' ('The Satan's Daughter')

Note: On 30 April 2015, I saw this movie again.

A college professor in England named Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) and his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) seem to live a charmed life. Then Norman finds out Tansy is using witchcraft to "protect" him. He firmly disbelieves of it and makes her burn all her protective charms. Then his life becomes a living hell...

Scary, well-made British chiller filmed in atmospheric black & white. This is the kind of movie where the chills creep up on you and quietly scare you.

The acting is great all around. Peter Wyngarde is very effective as Taylor--you see his character struggling to rationalize all the bad things happening to him. Surprisingly director Sidney Hayers (in an interview with Fangoria magazine) didn't want Wyngarde for the role. It was well known that Wyngarde was gay and the director felt he would be too effeminate for the role! His doubts were totally misfounded. Blair is even better as his wife Tansy. Her sacrifice at one point in the movie is actually very moving. And I'll never forget Margaret Johnston--that woman was EVIL. Trust me, I'm not giving anything away--you'll know who the evil witch is within the first 10 minutes.

A well-made, frightening horror film. Turn off the lights and cuddle up with this one. Perfect for late night viewing.

A demonstration that a lot can be achieved on a small budget by imaginative filmmakers. The intensity of this movie took me by surprise. I had expected something more plodding, along the lines of Hammer fare from the same period. Instead, here we have inventive camera-work (DOP Reg Wyer, cameraman future DOP Gerry Turpin), a hardworking score by William Alwyn, and a thoughtful leading man in Peter Wyngarde. Director Sidney Hayers had come from TV, where he seems mostly stayed thereafter - a pity, as he clearly rose to the challenge of this material.

Best of all are the two excellent performances by Janet Blair and Margaret Johnston. The former, an American who had to come to England to get a part that demonstrated she could really act. The latter, a distinguished stage actress who pulled all the stops out for this rare leading screen role.

The pace of the film slackens here and there, but recovers in time for a splendid finale. A couple of scenes would have benefited from retakes because of technical glitches, but I suspect there just wasn't enough money left to do them. It's certainly no worse in this respect, though, than NIGHT OF THE DEMON, which is a clear influence. The Jacques Tourneur movie is more satisfying because of the tautness of its screenplay, but in every other way NIGHT OF THE EAGLE (aka BURN, WITCH, BURN) is as good. I wish it were better known. It certainly deserves to be.

Screamplay by Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, based on Fritz Leiber's excellent novel, CONJURE WIFE- what more could one want? While it's a far cry from the likes of THE INNOCENTS or THE HAUNTING (the original version), BURN, WITCH, BURN! is, nonetheless, an entertaining entry in the eerie-goings-on genre. It's the sometimes subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) interplay between the women that makes this movie worth watching. This is one of those rare instances where one finds oneself wishing that the movie would go on just a while longer: it would've been interesting, indeed, to have seen the gradual escalation of hostilities between the, er, forces gathered here.