Le marteau des sorcières

WITCHHAMMER is a Czech horror film, based on the actual inquisition notes from the 17th Century, a time when superstition was rampant, The Church was ultra-powerful, and Christianity was seen as the only true religion.

When an old woman absconds with a single communion wafer, she is used as proof that The Devil is on the loose, creating his coven of witches. When the Inquisitor is brought in to investigate the situation, he soon finds just what he needs to get his convictions.

As others have pointed out, this movie is an excellent allegory for what was taking place in Czechoslovakia during the 1950s, under the boot of communism. Such "interrogations" were used, as in most cases, not to get to "the truth", but to break the will and destroy the mind.

One thing is made crystal clear in this film: If you hurt someone, anyone, enough, they will say whatever you want them to say, regardless of how absurd or untrue it may be. This has been common knowledge for thousands of years, and persists all over the world, even in this "enlightened" age.

WITCHHAMMER gets the point across like no other example of its subgenre: These women are in a no-win situation, and the men standing in judgement over them are sadists, interested only in confessions, no matter what agony must be inflicted to extract them. Anyone who seeks to help the condemned, no matter what position they hold, will face the same, grim fate.

A disturbing, brutal movie for its time, you won't soon forget it...

Whether we are talking about the real "witch trials" of the past, or alluding to more recent government (or other) uses of torture to advance or "prove" their causes, we quickly drift into very murky territory, IMHO. Even when used by a "good guy" such as Jack Bauer (in "24") to expedite things there's an inherent concern that, if people will say anything to escape the pain, then what's the point, and what is "proved"?

As this film well illustrates - whether it's about Communism or Witches - the wider issues of power, greed and societal control can provide ample cause for those willing to go down that path. Personally, I found it a tough (and somewhat depressing) watch, even though there is sparing use of graphic violence - but enough to get the point and add to the escalating mood of oppression.

Not for children, but otherwise recommended.

I have just seen the movie and I liked it more than any other movie about catholic persecution of witches. The last one I saw (and I think last one made) was The Crucible - that one wasn't bad, but I could not feel as much despair, corruption and that fear to speak up your mind as in this one. Kladivo na Carodejnice - with all the brutality, torture and all that injustice is real and very hard to forget. It is very well played and made. "Kladivo na Carodejnice" is a movie, that definitely catches your attention even when it's nearly 40 years old (not as if it was a bad thing)...that pathetic way in which some movies were made in 60's (I think it is about the lightning in these black&white movies) makes it look so threatening, so dark and sad....and so beautiful.

While the setting and the historical source of the movie is that of the late 17th century, don't be fooled, this is a movie about communism. More accurately, about the wretched logic the communist justice system has used to imprison and kill hundreds of people in the Czechoslovakian 50s. The forced confessions, self-accusal, torture and naming of innocent accomplices were all part of communist processes in which such as Milada Horáková perished.

There are plenty of analogies in the movie which I don't intend to spoil. The atmosphere is crafted masterfully, giving the film a bleak and dark look and amplifying the effects of its story. The performances are very good, however I don't know how well does the original czech translate into the subtitles. What keeps this from being a 10 out of 10 is the pacing. In a certain point of the movie, the end becomes obvious and the rest is just a hammer that drives the nail of absolute despair into your brain.

In the Seventeenth Century, in Moravia, the altar boy report to the priest that an old beggar woman has hidden her host in a piece of cloth during the communion. The priest brings the woman to question why she did it, and she tells him that another woman has promised food to her since her cow is not producing milk and she wanted to give the host to the animal. The priest brings the case to the Powers that Be in the town and priest Krystof Lautner (Elo Romancik), who is an intellectual man, tells him that it is a superstition from ignorant people and to give a penance to her. However, the priest brings the unscrupulous witchfinder Boblig von Edelstadt (Vladimír Smeral) that comes with his associate to Moravia and using torture, sentences three women to be burnt alive at stake. Then, he targets to the wealthy men in Moravia to get their fortunes, and to Lautner, who is a threat to him.

Serious movies about the Inquisition in the Dark Ages are usually unpleasant and disturbing. "Kladivo na carodejnice" (1970), a.k.a. "Witchhammer" is no exception to this rule and shows the corruption produced by the absolute power. In the present days, we have dictatorships, fanatic regimes, McCarthyism and supreme courts with excessive power in certain countries to show that this dark side of the mankind still prevails. The torture associated to the absolute power like it was in the Seventeenth Century completes the idea why this period of history is called Dark Ages. The direction and performances in this film are awesome associated to the black-and-white cinematography that gives the sensation of a documentary. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Martelo das Bruxas" ("The Hammer of the Witches")