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August 20, 2005
movie: The Witches
I find movies about witches strangely comforting. I'm not sure why; maybe because they often take place in the fall, and are also often on the lighter side of the horror genre.
Hocus Pocus is, oddly, my favorite example of this. Bell, Book and Candle is pretty high on the list.
Recently I did a little digging around on Netflix and unearthed The Witches. It looked campy and 60's and promising.
What I didn't know until I watched it was... it's a Hammer film. I'm actually not always all that into Hammer films, but I was heartened. And, as it turned out, not disappointed.
I think if I ever own a movie theater, I'll have to run a series on Creepy English Villages. Open each installment with an episode of The Prisoner, then launch into something like The Witches, or maybe The Wicker Man. I'm not sure why this is, but English villages seem to be inherently creepy. (Although I think The Wicker Man actually takes place in the Hebrides, which are in Scotland, not England. Close enough.)
In addition to some glorious over-acting by Joan Fontaine, this movie boasts inappropriate modern dance moves by the scruffy villagers, a surprisingly, surrealy creepy effect involving a cat in cloth bag, plot holes you could drive a herd of sheep through, and a hat with lit candles, worn by the head witch.
I want one of those candle hats. That would be cool.
Posted by lisa at August 20, 2005 09:06 PM
Comments
isn't it Sweden where they celebrate St Lucia day (early Dec) by wearing wreaths with lit candles on their heads? perhaps the Hammer costume dept. found a post-St Lucia day close-out sale...
Posted by: georg on August 20, 2005 10:20 PM
yes, i think you're right, although this was not an evergreen wreath. it seemed to be made of bare branches or very small antlers.
Posted by: lisa on August 20, 2005 10:48 PM
ok, so a) your comment won't post right away because i have to approve it first and b) you might get a server error but your comment probably posted anyway and c) previewing doesn't work so i've removed the preview button.