Horrorfest 2012: Burn Witch Burn

This is the second film of Horrorfest 2012 in a row that starts with narration, but unlike THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD, the opening narration of BURN WITCH BURN is interesting. A voice comes over blackness to warn the audience that the movie deals with witchcraft, and then reads a magic spell to ward off demons that might come out of the screen while the movie is being shown. Needless to say, this got my attention.

However, as BURN WITCH BURN started, I began to wonder if this narration had been added after the fact. After all, the credits say the film is from American International, heroes in the world of cinematic exploitation, and only a couple moments into the film it becomes clear that this is not a home grown schlock production at all, but a classy flick from England. After the movie was over I did some reading and confirmed my suspicions -- not only was the narration added at the beginning, but the title was changed from NIGHT OF THE EAGLE. I gotta say, NIGHT OF THE EAGLE just does not get the job done the way BURN WITCH BURN does.

Anyway, the movie is from the early 60s and takes place during then-contemporary times. Peter Wyngarde stars as a young sociology professor, new to his university, and we meet him in a somewhat Indiana Jonesy moment as he explains to his students that black magic, witch craft and other superstitions only have power if you believe. "I do not believe," is underlined on his chalk board. This is my kind of guy.

The rest of the professors and their spouses seem to waver between tolerating the new guy and being outright jealous of him. It seems although he's young and new, he's likely to take the coveted position of chair of the department. His wife, played by Janet Blair, seems acutely aware of this departmental bickering and in-fighting, though Wyngarde doesn't sweat it, too much.

That is, until he picks up on a few clues that tell him his wife might be using black magic and witchcraft to get him his way. He confronts her, she admits it, and he destroys all of her fetishes and talismans, despite her warning that bad things will happen if he does so. She doesn't want to hurt him, she wants to help him, but she is afraid of the dark forces working against him that she feels she has been warding off. There is a particularly creepy moment when a spider his wife kept as a talisman is thrown into the fire, and then crawls back out again.  Sheesh.

No sooner have the demonic items been destroyed than bad stuff does start happening to the poor professor. He's almost run over, a female student accuses him of untoward advances, her boyfriend assaults him, and it all escalates until it gets to the point where it seems his own wife wants to kill him. But, not everything is as it seems, as we find out in the thrilling climax.

BURN WITCH BURN is a really well made film with some good central performances and a lot of surprises. It's great to go into this kind of movie having no idea what your'e going to get -- the title made me picture medieval witch trials, but instead I got a little horror story about faculty politics. Now that I think of it, that sounds like a bit of a disappointment, but it was the exact opposite.