Pacte avec le diable

No need to recap the plot.

Except for the hokey demon in the opening, the first part is nicely understated. Life at the English school seems normal enough even if the business with the dolls is a little unsettling. As a result, we can't be sure what's developing, which for me generates suspense since we know something sinister is afoot but can't be sure what. Frankly, I wish the movie's remainder had remained in this understated vein, with a creepy upshot instead of the wildly misguided finale.

With an actress of Fontaine's caliber, it would have been possible to develop this dark psychological aspect, which, for example, is nicely done at the rest home, but soon gives way to silly high-priestess antics (Bax). I guess Hammer figured audiences expected a big lurid payoff leaving nothing to the imagination, which is just what they provided. Anyway, the film's colorfully set in the English countryside, and smoothly directed by Frankel. But for those of us that believe the most effective horror lies in an aroused imagination, the movie proves an ultimate disappointment.

This interesting if not altogether successful production for Britains' legendary Hammer Studios has a generally intriguing plot (it's scripted by Nigel Kneale, based on a novel by Norah Lofts) but it tends to become much less interesting after a crucial turn in the story, and leads to a less than satisfactory resolution. That's too bad, because the material did have some potential.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Hammer was always so good with their period pieces that there's a lack of truly oppressive atmosphere with this contemporary set tale. After a hell of a start, the film, which could indeed have used a more masterful director like Terence Fisher at the helm, slowly loses its grip.

Joan Fontaine made her last appearance in a theatrical feature here, from then on only acting on TV. The star of Hitchcocks' "Rebecca" and "Suspicion" plays Gwen Mayfield, a teacher who after a traumatic experience in Africa comes to the small English village of Heddaby to instruct at its local school. She'll soon come to suspect that some of the citizens are up to no good...but she'll have no idea just how big the problem is.

The lovely Ms. Fontaine is appealing and sympathetic in the lead, and she receives solid support from an exemplary cast - Kay Walsh, Alec McCowen, Ann Bell, Ingrid Boulting, John Collin, Michele Dotrice, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies, Duncan Lamont, Leonard Rossiter, and Martin Stephens. As could be expected, this is a good looking Hammer production, well designed and photographed and featuring an eerie score composed by Richard Rodney Bennett.

Admittedly, this can't compare to the best that Hammer has to offer, but it remains watchable enough until its finale. It may work better for those who aren't fans of the studio to begin with.

Six out of 10.

The Witches, which is much better known in America by its US release title The Devil's Own, is one of those legendary films made great because the supporting actress completely upstages the star. (Think Grayson Hall in Night of the Iguana, or Sylvia Miles in Midnight Cowboy.) In her autobiography, Miss Joan Fontaine, who had acquired the film rights to the novel years before, complains at length about the "primitive" working conditions at Hammer studios, the small size of her dressing room, the awful food and the unprofessional British actors she had to lower herself in working with. We all know that the real bee in her bonnet was that a movie she had basically designed as a vehicle for HER talents ended up being taken over by Miss Kay Walsh, a superb dancer and talented actress who had had an extensive career in films and theatre (check out her IMDB listing--you'll be impressed). Luckily Fontaine was (to her credit) too much of a pro herself to let her dissatisfaction show on screen. She turns in a credible performance as a woman teacher attempting to recover from a traumatic encounter with witch doctors in Africa by taking a slow, quiet gig in an apparently sleepy, quaint olde English village. Well, guess who rules the roost in this town? As the title clues you in, it's none other than ... the Witches!!!

As boss witch supreme Stephanie Bax, a character one of the reviewers of the time described as a "lesbian-like writer," Kay Walsh dominates the action from the moment she appears. Of all the various witch films of the Sixties, this one probably has the most realistic atmosphere and the most plausible plot. The traditional opposition between village wise women (capably embodied here by Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies as Granny Riggs--be sure to keep an eye out for her stogie-chomping aristo witch in 1967's The Devil Rides Out) and the kind of ceremonial magician played by Miss Walsh is portrayed quite matter-of-factly in the script. The kind of witchcraft practiced both by the Walsh and the Ffrangcon-Davies characters is a pretty accurate portrayal of practices actually current in Sixties England, for instance in the circles around Robert Cochrane and other figures who were gaining a lot of media attention in those days. The campy elan of Miss Walsh's dances as High Priestess (one wonders how they dealt with all the hot wax that must have flown off the lit candles in that antler-crown of hers) is very London West End on one level, yet also seems a poetic evocation of a learned ceremonial magician taking over a traditional village circle for her own corrupt ends on another level. Excellent work by Miss Walsh and the choreographer.

Also worthy of mention is the appearance of Martin Stephens, who made memorable such earlier Sixties fantasy films as The Innocents and Village of the Damned (in which he had the unenviable task of acting opposite George Sanders--who hated children!). Martin retired from films shortly after appearing in the Witches. Among the others, Alec McCowen turns in a brilliant little gem of a performance as Kay Walsh's traumatized brother.

For all its excellence, Hammer historians give second place for this film to Don Sharp's 1964 outing, Witchcraft. Let's hope somebody hurries up and releases that one on home video soon!

1966's The Witches rates in the upper half of 1960's era horror. Its not outstanding but it is very interesting. I would certainly recommend it for viewing, just don't expect a classic.

Leading lady Joan Fontaine was still an impressive screen presence at this time and she portrays the courageous but vulnerable headmistress Gwen Mayfield very well.

But - a little bit about the story. Heroine Gwen suffered a nervous breakdown when in Africa, brought on by a traumatic experience with tribal witchcraft. Gwen recovers and takes a teaching job in a quiet, out of the way English village. Little did she know that even greater horror than what she experienced in Africa awaited her! It takes her awhile to realize that the town is home to a witch's coven, a coven that she will unwillingly be admitted into.

Before we get to this point, the story unfolds with some fairly decent character development. The too-jolly meat cutter Mr. Curd, the dour Granny Rigg and her overly-protected grand daughter Linda, Linda's boyfriend Ronnie and the brother sister team of Alan and Stephanie Bax, very capably portrayed by Kay Walsh and Alec McCowen as the village leaders, are the main characters which keep life interesting for Gwen. One gets a clear sense of life in a small English village, a place where fear and superstition become horrible reality.

The problem with reviewing The Witches is, if too much of the film is detailed, the ending is predictable and viewing ruined for those who have not seen it. Keep in mind this is a Hammer film and is similar to other films of the day, such as The Plague of the Zombies, (1966, also by Hammer), and 1960's City of The Dead, (AKA Horror Hotel), to name a couple.

If you are a fan of horror, and I suspect you are if you are reading this review, then you are probably already aware of this film and its exciting conclusion. This was one of Ms. Fontaine's last major screen roles so view it for this reason if for no other.

The Witches is a very watchable film, but also an uneven one, Hammer have done some very good to great films but this is not one of them. It's one of those cases where the first half, which was reasonably strong despite a few problems, fares far more strongly than the second half, which was incredibly problematic and awful at its worst.

Visually, The Witches, as with most Hammer efforts, looks great. The scenery and sets are both beautiful and eerie, it's stylishly shot and the lighting helps give off an effectively creepy atmosphere. The music is resolutely haunting and has a thrilling intensity while also having the ability of being intimate when it calls for it.

The script does lack horror and mystery, but flow-wise and structurally it flows well and is decently written, and while the film is reasonably tame by today's standards the atmosphere still has a creepiness and the first half interests and entertains mostly. The direction is very competent in the first half and shows great technical assurance but falls flat in the last thirty minutes. The cast are very good and are the best thing about the film aside from the visuals. Joan Fontaine has been better, but the vulnerability of her character is very deeply felt, Alex McCowan has a lot of fun with his role while Kay Walsh's excellent performance steals the film.

As said, the first half is reasonably strong. It does have its flaws, it does move too slowly in places and the prologue was rather vague and somewhat irrelevant. It's always professionally made and well-acted on the whole, and is intriguing and entertaining, with a great creepy atmosphere and some decent suspense.

However, the second half really disappoints. It gets really tedious, gets increasingly confused, suspense, mystery and horror are non-existent and it dissolves into camp, which I don't think was intended. The film's biggest flaw is the climax, which has to be the worst ever ending for a Hammer film with its inept choreography, even worse dancing and it was just too amateurish to even be considered unintentionally funny.

Overall, good first half, but very bad second half. An uneven film, with a lot of strengths and some big flaws. 6/10 Bethany Cox