Suspenseful '60s tail of witchcraft, gilded by Lon Chaney, Jr cameo. Little onscreen violence and plenty of ominous characters posed in front of expensive, but faded, wallpaper in fine old English settings. As you would expect, many dramatic moments involve actors starring off to the distance and uttering vague statements wile the music swells in a minor key. In short, a delightful time capsule!

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.

In all honesty "Witchcraft" is just an average British horror accomplishment from the sixties, but I'm slightly biased and overenthusiastic because I'm a big admirer of the subject matter (witchery and family curses), the director (Don Sharp also made "Psychomania", "Dark Places" and many other overlooked genre movies) and the notorious cool guy who receives top billing even though he only sporadically appears in the film (Lon Chaney in finally another role that suits his grim appearance). Somewhere deep in the remote en rural British countryside, the centuries old feud between the Whitlock clan and the Lanier family sparks up again. For the big upcoming real estate project of the Laniers, a bulldozer ravages straight through the Whitlock family cemetery and destroys the grave of 17th Century ancestress Vanessa Whitlock, whom was accused of witchery and buried alive by the Lanier family. Well, the accusation wasn't false for sure, as Vanessa promptly rises from the tomb and teams up with the grumpy Morgan Whitlock in order to bring the entire Lanier family down. Several members of the Lanier family die in mysterious circumstances, but complications arise when it turns out that Morgan's little niece Amy is in love with a Lanier enemy. "Witchcraft" is a competent enough and well-paced occult thriller with gloomy black & white cinematography, a couple of original ideas in its screenplay and an extremely tense finale. Lon Chaney Jr. is naturally menacing, but the biggest creeps are provided by Yvette Rees as silent the hypnotically staring witch Vanessa Whitlock. If she would appear behind me on a flight of stairs, I would surely throw myself down from them as well! There are also two very nifty and imaginative fright scenes involving a car and its passenger(s) driving through a bumpy landfill and towards certain death, although in their minds it looks as if they're driving on a safe and cozy lane.

A modest but good British horror film that offers a decent part for aging star Lon Chaney. There has been a feud going on between the Whitlock family and the Lanier family ever since the 17th century when the Laniers denounced young Vanessa Whitlock as a witch and buried her alive. Now in modern day England, the Laniers are part of a land developing business that is running bulldozers over the ancient Whitlock graveyard and disturbing their headstones, much to the protest of head spokesman Morgan Whitlock (Chaney). To make matters worse, Morgan's niece Amy (Diane Claire) is in love with Bill Lanier (Jack Hedley). When the tomb of Vanessa Whitlock gets accidentally desecrated, the angered witch (Yvette Rees) rises to seek vengeance by placing curses on the Laniers. It's nice to see Lon Chaney amidst this devilish action, and he adds dignity to what was one of his last good horror movies. Director Don Sharp (Hammer's KISS OF THE VAMPIRE) sets up a few eerie shots and imbues these black and white proceedings with a haunting atmosphere. This movie would make a fine double feature with HORROR HOTEL (aka "The City of the Dead"). *** out of ****