"Witchfinder General" (1968), known as "The Conqueror Worm" in
America, was directed by Michael Reeves and occupies a unique place
in British cinema. Equally praised and vilified, the film
fictionalizes the exploits of Matthew Hopkins, a prolific,
real-life "witch hunter," during the English Civil War. For critic
Mark Kermode, the release proved to be "the single most significant
horror film produced in the United Kingdom in the 1960s," while
playwright Alan Bennett called the work "the most persistently
sadistic and rotten film I've ever seen." Steadily gaining a cult
reputation, unimpeded by the director's death just months after the
film's release, the film is now treated as a landmark, though
problematic, accomplishment, as it exists in a number of recut,
retitled, and rescored versions. This in-depth study positions the
film within the history of horror and discusses its importance as a
British and heritage film. It also considers the inheritance of
Hopkins, the script's relationship to the novel by Ronald Bassett,
and the iconic persona of the film's star, Vincent Price. Ian
Cooper conducts close textual readings of specific scenes and
explores the film's various contexts, from the creation of the X
certificate and the tradition of Hammer gothic, to the influence on
Ken Russell's "The Devils" (1971) and the "torture porn" of
twenty-first-century horror.
General
Imprint: |
Auteur Publishing
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Series: |
Devil's Advocates |
Release date: |
December 2011 |
First published: |
March 2011 |
Authors: |
Ian Cooper
|
Dimensions: |
191 x 140 x 7mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
108 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-906733-51-3 |
Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
Performing arts >
Films, cinema >
General
|
LSN: |
1-906733-51-1 |
Barcode: |
9781906733513 |
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