Night of the Eagle

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.

A small university town in England is the setting of this well-crafted tale of witchcraft, voodoo, and mystery concerning the rise of a young professor in his department in Sociology. The film begins with the professor giving a lecture on the ridiculous nature of the supernatural. He says that the supernatural only exists when believers exist; otherwise without believers, there would be no supernatural. I thought this was a great way to start a film. You know that before long this young professor will be eating those words. And, indeed, he does. The film's basic premise concerns this man's wife, Tansy, helping him rise - or at least believing to help him rise - in his department amidst other forces that wish to see his downfall. There is certainly a lot going for this British, low-budget film. Great performances are delivered by the entire cast, particularly Peter Wyngarde as the man trapped between what he sees as logical and reasonable and what his wife believes is responsible for his success. Janet Blair plays his wife with great conviction and an intensity that makes what she does seem plausible. One other acting notable belongs to Margaret Johnston as a rather scary, limping colleague who has a crushing blow delivered to her when she doesn't get the department chair. She makes one scary woman! The direction is in the hands of the ever-capable Sidney Hayers, responsible for many of my favourite episodes of The Avengers(including "The Superlative Seven"). Hayers is excellent at pacing the film with tension. But the most credit for the film's success must be given to Richard Matheson who adapted the film from the celebrated novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber. Matheson has just enough logic mixed in with mysterious red herrings, superstitious practices, and quaint, British manners to make for a most enjoyable film. There is no doubt that for this film: the eagle has landed!

I've just watched this obscure little British horror. The only name I recognised in the credits was the writer Richard Matheson. But it turns out that the director was Sidney Hayers, who also directed Circus of Horrors, before he went on to direct a lot of television, including The A Team, The New Avengers and Manimal (does anyone remember that?).

The plot is a little haywire, but this is a great film. It fits into the horror sub-genre "Housewives and school teachers who get into witchcraft", along with Horror Hotel, Hammer's The Witches, Romero's Season of the Witch and many others, probably. It's got some great visuals, partly due to the very dark black and white photography, it has genuine moments of suspense and the special effects are incredible for a film of its age and low budget. It's also known as Burn, Witch, Burn, which gives it a sensationalist twist that it doesn't really need. Night of the Eagle is a much more appropriate title. I highly recommend this if you can catch it on TV or DVD!

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.

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.