THE WITCHES-(THE DEVIL'S OWN)-1966-Gwen Mayfield (Oscar winner Joan Fontaine in her last feature film role and still alive at the time of this writing) is a school teacher still recovering from an occult experience in Africa who goes to teach at a school in a small English town. Everyone seems to like her despite some oddballs like Alan Bax (Alec McCowen) who wears a priest's collar despite not being a priest. She becomes friends with Allan's sister Stephanie (Kay Walsh), a writer. After some mysterious goings on involving 2 teenagers and some disappearances Gwen has another breakdown and is sent to a hospital/nursing home. The doctor there (Leonard Rossiter) seems to be keeping her a prisoner....or is he? She later escapes and finds out the town's secret. Witchcraft is to blame and a young girl is to be a sacrifice!
This partnership between 7 Arts and Hammer films isn't as bad as I've sometimes read it's suppose to be though there's not a lot of action and in a way it's fairly easy to figure out the character who's behind it all. The devil worshipers do a really wild dance and there are some very haunting native masks. Screenplay (adapted from a novel by Norah Lofts, a female writer who sometimes wrote under the pen name Peter Curtis)) is by Nigel Kneale who wrote 2 of the Quatermass TV series and FIRST MEN IN THE MOON among other films. Director Cyril Frankel did a lot of BBC TV shows.
According to some sources the book's rights were purchased by Fontaine herself who brought the project to Hammer.
Thanks for reading!
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