The Witches Movie Review

The Witches a.k.a The Devil's Own is a 1966 Hammer horror movie directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Joan Fontaine.

In Africa, a woman called Gwen Mayfield(Fontaine) is teaching school. She gets caught up in a riot of the local witch doctors and she is cornered in her school. She screams as they approach her. She has a nervous breakdown afterwards. Cut to Gwen, who is back home in England. She has come to a village called Heddaby. She is going for an interview to be the new teacher. She meets the Reverend Alan Bax(Alec McCowen) and chats to him. He gives her the job and she meets his journalist sister, Stephanie(Kay Walsh). Gwen goes to the cottage where she will live and she meets her maid, Valerie(Michele Dotrice). She asks Valerie where the church is and finds out that there is none. Alan isn't a real Reverend. He shows Gwen the ruins of the old church. Alan wanted to be a priest, but he couldn't so he pretends to be.

Gwen meets Sally, the other teacher. Gwen gets caught up in a situation with a young girl called Linda, who is courting a boy called Ronnie. The locals do not like it. Linda misses school. Gwen gets a not saying that Linda's grandmother has hurt her. Gwen calls to see her but is met by hostility by grandma. The grandma has an evil cat who follows Gwen. Ronnie suddenly becomes ill and is taken away  in an ambulance. Ronnie's mother has an argument with the grandma over it. Linda's doll is found with pins sticking into it. Gwen talks to Stephanie about witchcraft and Stephanie wants to write a piece about it.  She wants Gwen to help her.  Ronnie is taken away from the village by his mother.

Weird things start to happen around the village and Gwen wonders if there is witchcraft there. She sees witch doctor symbols and she faints. She wakes up in hospital. She thinks she is having another nervous breakdown. She tries to work out what is going on. She escapes from the hospital and she goes back to the village.She finds Stephanie and stays with her. She wanders around and visits the old church. She discovers that Stephanie and the rest of the village are in a coven. They want her to be one of them Stephanie is going to call the Devil by sacrificing Linda. She wants to live longer by using Linda.  Gwen stops it by cutting herself and ruining the ritual. Stephanie dies. It turns out that Stephanie was the real evil and controlled all of the others. Everyone seems to wake up and the movie ends with the village returning to normal and the villagers happy.

I enjoyed this film. It was a good Hammer horror movie. There isn't much in the way of scares in this, but it is entertaining and fun. Fontaine is good in the lead role and I liked the ending where she discovers the witches. This is worth a look for anyone who enjoys old horror movies and I recommend it! I will give it a 6/10.