"A masterful work..."? Who wrote that? Kirstie Alley in a masterful work about the Salem witch trials. Got to be worth a watch. I bailed after an hour and 25 minutes of my life that I bitterly regret wasting on this. If I hadn't had a pizza delivered and had my hands full, I might have had the will to turn it off.I've tried to bear in mind that it's 32 years old but that's really no excuse.The acting is truly awful. Accents that put Dick Van Dyke as the chimney sweep in Mary Poppins in a good light. Terrible cinematography, sets like a 1950s B movie. Plot devices and direction on the same level as a local am dram production.Sorry, but I can't find a single redeeming thing to say about this. The one star I've given was for Kirstie Alley's acting which was pretty good.

This is a made for TV movie... apparently in two parts when aired judging by the length of it. This could have been easily cut down to a one part film - or one that aired in one night instead of in two parts. There are unnecessary and drawn out scenes to create more drama I guess.I have my own beliefs of the real Salem Witch Trials WITCH I will not discuss here (pun intended) but I can say this is a good film, even though it is overly and unnecessarily long. I did enjoy this movie because I love stories (real and fake) about witches.If you want a solid film on what happened at Salem then I do recommend giving this one a watch.8/10

First.... I can't believe this is a made for TV movie... seems too well acted, too many great actors, and set design/period too well done, for a "made for TV stamp" to be on this movie.I never thought much about Shirley MacLaine.... just as a has-been sex symbol, and fluff actress (like early Natalie Wood). But when I saw this movie....WOW... she sheds all vanity and modesty, and delivers a powerful performance worthy of an (other??) Oscar. Piousness, Humbleness, sympathetic...all the qualities I thought this actress was not (didn't she do a Las Vegas show recently??)... she played all this, so movingly.Peter Ustinov was at his best, too, playing a villain, yet showing his character as more complex, who feels sorrow at what he does, but still metes out his brand of misplaced judgment.As high a drama as this was, I noted much of the movie as historically accurate enough, making this a great movie. On par with "Judgment at Nuremburg" (another star-clogged movie, that ended up being a great success).

This movie came with perfect timing. My senior high school play was "The Crucible" and this movie gave me some great in-depth as to my character (Mrs. Ann Putnam). To think that all this actually did happen is both sad and crazy. In response to the previous comment, children may have been expected to be "seen not heard", however the truth remains that that movie is a fairly accurate representation of history. Kirstie Alley was awesome, I loved how she portrayed her character, it made me both hate her and pity her. Kudos to the actors and directors, that is a heavy intense script and to have kept your performances strong throughout is amazing.