Review of the reissue with William S. Burroughs' narration.
Although this film uses powerful imagery, advanced camera and special effects, it's far to sarcastic for the audience's good. The film at first points out the rather flawed beliefs of early science, but then goes on to portray witch hunts in a rather sarcastic manner, which tells the audience in a dry tone all the "good" the clergy's doing. I sat through, knowing at least the narrator (Burroughs) can't believe this to be true in real life, at was satisfied at the end with conclusions on how so many were falsely accused of witchcraft. Although today, any one who's going to pick up this film will already know enough not to fall into the trap of cheering on the Catholic church of the witch hunts, when it was first released it wasn't uncommon for audience members to walk in and out of theaters and would entirely miss the whole point of the movie. I doubt the public was that ignorant to fall head first, or would easily become bored enough to walk out of such a daring film, but anyone who should have see in for the truth would have been miles away from the film to begin with. It was either preaching to the already converted, or fell upon the death ears of those who wanted a satanic peep show. And although it's findings may have been on the top of it's game at the time, such research has crossed mountains since.
It's a film which will fall flat with it's presentation as a documentary, any documentary which was 80 years old would, but will dwell on your mind as it takes such a risky exploration into the occult. As a milestone in history of film it will not disappoint, but as an exploration into witchcraft and the occult it only scratches the surfaces.
Although this film uses powerful imagery, advanced camera and special effects, it's far to sarcastic for the audience's good. The film at first points out the rather flawed beliefs of early science, but then goes on to portray witch hunts in a rather sarcastic manner, which tells the audience in a dry tone all the "good" the clergy's doing. I sat through, knowing at least the narrator (Burroughs) can't believe this to be true in real life, at was satisfied at the end with conclusions on how so many were falsely accused of witchcraft. Although today, any one who's going to pick up this film will already know enough not to fall into the trap of cheering on the Catholic church of the witch hunts, when it was first released it wasn't uncommon for audience members to walk in and out of theaters and would entirely miss the whole point of the movie. I doubt the public was that ignorant to fall head first, or would easily become bored enough to walk out of such a daring film, but anyone who should have see in for the truth would have been miles away from the film to begin with. It was either preaching to the already converted, or fell upon the death ears of those who wanted a satanic peep show. And although it's findings may have been on the top of it's game at the time, such research has crossed mountains since.
It's a film which will fall flat with it's presentation as a documentary, any documentary which was 80 years old would, but will dwell on your mind as it takes such a risky exploration into the occult. As a milestone in history of film it will not disappoint, but as an exploration into witchcraft and the occult it only scratches the surfaces.