Aged fifteen, I first watched this film on late-night television in the autumn of 1970 and, like several other reviewers, found it both entertaining and frightening, especially with regard to Vanessa Whitlock's two appearances in the Lanier house! Having seen the film only once or twice since, I recently acquired the DVD and, in common with the majority of the film's previous reviewers, was very pleased to see how well the production stands up more than fifty years after first being released. Several of your previous reviewers have recorded succinct and lucid synopses of the plot of 'Witchcraft', and my purpose in adding this review is to point out a small way in which I feel the production could be improved. 'Witchcraft' depicts, a little clumsily to my mind, THREE generations of Laniers and I feel that, in the interests of taut and precise characterisation and plotting, these could profitably have been reduced to TWO. Given the ages of the actors and actresses involved, Malvina Lanier could quite easily have become Bill's and Todd's MOTHER rather than grandmother and Helen Lanier could almost as easily have become an older, unmarried sister to the two sons. Such an adjustment of relationships would also, I feel, have given more dramatic impact to the stated suicide of Bill's and Todd's father, as such a device could logically and sequentially have been employed as the reason for the reclusiveness of Malvina Lanier. As the film stands, Helen's father and Bill's and Todd's mother are somewhat airbrushed out of the proceedings. However, 'Witchcraft' remains a film that I would thoroughly recommend.

In the 17th century the Lanier family buried a Whitlock woman, Vanessa (Yvette Rees), alive as a witch and took over the family's estate. Three hundred years later the feud between the two families is still very much alive but, despite it, Amy Whitlock (Diane Clare) and Todd Lanier (David Weston) are making wedding plans. When property developer Bill Lanier (Jack Hedley) starts renovating the Whitlock estate, a bulldozer rips up graves in the old Whitlock cemetery escalating the feud between the families to boiling point. Vanessa rises from her disturbed resting place and with the aid of Morgan Whitlock (Lon Chaney Jr), a descendant from her family, uses witchcraft to destroy the Lanier clan one by one...One of those dear low budget British shockers made during this country's horror wave of the 1960's, which was spearheaded by Hammer studios. Harry Spalding's screenplay neatly knits together what is a pretty formulaic story line that contains little that we have not seen before. Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of the talented director Don Sharp, there are some splendid, extremely well staged shocks like when Vanessa manifests herself in the rear view mirror of a victim's Morris Minor car whom is hypnotised into driving to her death off a cliff face at a rubbish tip.Most of the cast bar Lon Chaney Jr - here appearing in one of his last starring roles and by now way passed his prime - is competent while not exactly inspired. Diane Clare and David Weston, in particular, are rather dull as the two young lovers while Jack Hedley is not exactly the screen's greatest hero. Yvette Rees, although without dialogue as Vanessa, looks suitably glamouress while equally sinister at the same time.Arthur Lavis' b/w camera-work is suitably atmospheric with its swirling mists and creepy graveyards and a Sight and Sound review at the time described the film as often "reminiscent of Val Lewton.". Judge for yourself.

The movie WITCHCRAFT certainly was never meant to be Shakespeare nor an episode of "Masterpiece Theater", so you can't expect it to be great intellectual entertainment. However, as a relatively low-budget horror film, it manages to deliver quite well.While the film stars Lon Chaney, Jr., he doesn't seem to be the star and he's not a welcome addition to the film. All he seems to do is yell a lot and you wonder why everyone in the film has a nice British accent while Lon doesn't!! Still, it's a dandy tale about a couple greedy land brokers who accidentally unleash the spirit of a dead witch when they thoughtlessly bulldoze a graveyard. Considering that the witch was buried alive and had the powers of Hell at her disposal, it isn't surprised that she returns to seek vengeance on the family who buried her. Heck, maybe she's so angry because she was alive all that time (about 300 years) waiting to be released--gee that would be boring!!The film has an intelligently written plot, good acting (apart from Chaney) and solid pacing--making you believe, somehow, that all this COULD be real! The only problem, and it's a small one, is that in one scene where a lady discovers a Satanic coven, she yells out to one of them as she recognizes her! If any SANE person saw these human sacrificing nuts, I doubt if their first impulse would be to yell out but instead would just leave....and very, very quietly!! Good low-budget entertainment that manages to be better than usual even with this one silly mistake.

Witchcraft may not have quite enough about it to ensure it 'classic' status; but it's more than decent effort and certainly a good example of the massively overused 'witch coming back from the grave for revenge' cliché. It has to be said that the film doesn't have a lot of excitement and the story drones rather than leaps from one step to the next; but the film never gets boring either, and experienced horror director Don Sharp (who directed a number of films for Hammer as well as several other genre entries) does a good job of keeping the film interesting enough to ensure that the slow burning plot isn't too big a problem. The plot itself seems to take a bit of influence from Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet and focuses on two families; at war over a century's old feud. The Laniers are accused by the Whitlock's of burying a Whitlock accused of witchcraft alive. This is not good news for Amy Whitlock and Bill Lanier, who have plans to get married. The feud is irritated further by the fact that the Laniers are planning to build on the Whitlock's cemetery...The film's big name is the excellent Lon Chaney Jr who, while billed as the movie's big star, actually takes up more of a supporting role. However, he still manages to stand out as ever as the sinister patriarch of the Whitlock family. The film is shot in black and white and while it's clear that Witchcraft didn't have much of a budget to go on, the film does look nice and the black and white picture aids in giving Witchcraft a thick, foreboding atmosphere. The film does have a few different things going on at once, which gives it more opportunity to be interesting, though it isn't capitalised on. The Romeo and Juliet style plot is the most annoying example of this as very little is made of it. The film does lack suspense, although it does well with the mystery side of the plot and the way that the film builds up the introduction of the ancient vengeful witch is haunting and unsettling. It is true that Witchcraft is far from great and really could have been much better if more was made of it; but in spite of that, I can't dislike this film too much because it makes for a nice, relaxed viewing and I did have fun watching it.