The Devil's Own

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DanTheMan 2 If you can get past the, admittedly, crap opening, you'll find a delightful thriller in The Witches, offering a rare, straight-laced credulity about the dangers of witchcraft rather than knowing commercial calculation. Settling down more calmly to make good use of Nigel Kneale's highly literate script, with Kneale himself marking his return after a near-decade absence from his last Hammer collaboration, with an adaptation of the 1960 novel, The Devil's Own; a heady brew of occasional scares, countryside weirdness, Sindy dolls and barking-mad, anything-goes formation dancing offset by an undercurrent of class tension in the dialogue with established ideas of right and wrong seen to be on the verge of collapse. I was extremely interested to see how the whole thing would unfold in the more than capable hands of director Cyril Frankel, he was responsible for one of my favourite episodes of Gerry Anderson's UFO (Timelash). His direction ensures that an ever-foreboding atmosphere is always present and the sets are all colourfully realised but the story is too slow for its own good, despite plenty of intrigue to keep the viewer invested all backed by a pretty good Richard Rodney Bennett musical score and some strong performances from its cast. The Witches is rather nuts, albeit in a tweedy, middle-class sort of way. Closer to a psychological thriller than horror, one that you can feel the Kneale influence throughout but the film never fully commits to that influence even if it does have a few genuinely creepy moments. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/07/24 Full Review Mat L Delightful horror/thriller boasting a very enjoyable performance by raspy voiced Fontaine in her best form. If Agatha Christie and Roman Polanski (pre Rosemary's baby) had a baby. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/21/24 Full Review dave s Despite the decent production values that you'd expect from a Hammer release, The Devil's Own is a bit of a bland affair. After Gwen Mayfield (Joan Fontaine) has a nervous breakdown as the result of being tormented by an African witch doctor, she finds herself in a quaint English village, teaching in the local school. Before you know it, she suspects the locals of being witches, all of whom are preparing to sacrifice a virgin in a black magic ritual. Or are they? The opening scene is odd, what follows is all a bit boring, but the ending is something that needs to be seen to be believed. What was undoubtedly intended to be horrifying is actually laugh-out-loud hilarious, a total misfire of a climax. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Much much better than you’d expect! A little bit Wicker Man and a lot of fun. The ritual at the end is campy and weird and gloriously sexual (it doesn’t take much imagination to see sexual fetishes in the writhing cult members). And Joan gives a very admirable performance. And how sad that a film with a beautiful 48 yr old woman is called ‘hagsploitation’. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/13/22 Full Review Audience Member Good movie to watch just a bit corny at the witches sacrifice ritual part scratch that when i said a bit corny the ritual sacrifice part was hella corny but it is a good movie to watch id recommend it also watch it with your family see what they think Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Joan Fontaine goes the Hagsploitation route in the slow-moving Hammer horror film with a silly-looking monster. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Devil's Own

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