capone666 Season of the WitchWomen gravitate towards Wicca, because unlike Christianity it doesn't consider them to be the harbingers of sin.Unfortunately, this horror movie about the earth-centric religion is not the best example of that aforementioned assertion.Plagued with recurring nightmares of her traveling husband, bored housewife Joan (Jan White) seeks the spiritual counsel of her tarot card-reading neighbour (Virginia Greenwald), who is also the head priestess of the neighbourhood coven.Convinced that she too is a witch, Joan goes a little nutty, which results in her using witchcraft to seduce her daughter's TA, and get away with murder.A psychological trip through the mind of a lonely housewife, Season of the Witch is a less- zombified movie than what director George A. Romero is known for; however, it's just as insightful.As for which one is hotter: zombie or witch? When you get Skyclad with a witch their decomposing genitals don't fall off. (Yellow Light)

gavin6942 A woman (Jan White) feels kept down by her husband, and pursues witchcraft as a hobby. That has some negative consequences, as well as her new interest in adultery.This is the first film solely written by George A. Romero and a break from most of the Latent Image crew who had made "Night of the Living Dead". Some familiar names return. Bill Hinzman appears as "the intruder" and did some lighting and photography. Master bamboo flutist Steve Gorn returns as composer. Gary Streiner, who did sound on "Night" and "Vanilla", is now a producer. And actors Robert Trow and Raymond Laine from "Vanilla" are back. Outside of the two Romero films, Trow is best known for appearing in 266(!) episodes of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood".The opening scene features a woman being swatted by newspaper, slapped by tree branches, and dragged on a leash into a kennel. It is very artistic, and shows early on why Hollywood Reporter called the film "a nightmarish vision of female oppression." Let us put the film in its historical context. Wicca and neopaganism began in England thanks to Gerald Gardner but really took off in America around 1970 thanks to Paul Huson's book "Mastering Witchcraft". This coincides with the rise of "second wave" feminism lead by Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. Though the themes today (2017) may seem quaint, they were hot topics in 1973.Mike Mayo gives the film a solid three out of four, the most complimentary review I am aware of. Yet, his write-up raises questions of his sincerity. He says the film "had more social relevance than it does now", is "too-talky" and is "not nearly as suspenseful or engrossing" as "Martin" overall. This gives the impression he wants to like it as a Romero fan, but cannot fully commit himself. Had Mayo watched it, not knowing Romero was involved, would he have been so rewarding?The film's original title "Jack's Wife" succinctly captured the essence of the film, being about a woman who was not seen as her own person. The later and more common title is "Season the Witch", which plays up the very limited horror aspect and probably disappointed many expecting a supernatural tale. (I originally saw it at a horror marathon, which was unfortunate.) Yet another title was "Hungry Wives", suggesting a sexploitation film, which this absolutely is not.The movie was originally released by Jack Harris (best known for "The Blob"), shortly after Harris distributed John Landis' debut "Schlock". Harris also distributed John Carpenter's debut "Dark Star" (1974). While his creation of "The Blob" is appropriately celebrated, perhaps Harris deserves even more praise for aiding the careers of not one, but three masters of horror! The Arrow Blu-ray provides multiple cuts of the film, but its best new feature is an hour-long conversation between Romero and Guillermo del Toro. Of course, this dialogue is not strictly about "Season of the Witch". But that is what makes it so great, because few filmmakers have the love for genre cinema that del Toro goes, and he can get to the heart of Romero's visions.

Dagon Fresh off of his success of Night of the Living Dead, Romero tried expanding his skill set as a director. Although Romero's second film takes a short break from horror with 1971's There's Always Vanilla, Hungry Wives jumps right back into the game. This film goes by a few different names, one by of the name of Season of the Witch - this is often confused with the third film in the Halloween franchise released in 1982, also entitled Season of the Witch. To clear up any further confusion, many people just refer to Romero's film as Hungry Wives.This film tells the story of a group of bored and restless housewives that are uncomfortable with aging. A member of their group, and the butt-end of their humor without her knowledge, is a practitioning Witch. The story focuses in on the protagonist, Joan Mitchell, who expresses interest in learning the mystical arts while sharing the same hopeless outlook on life as her companions.Although the premise may sound like a straight forward plot the execution that follows thereafter is anything but linear. I was expecting this film to follow in the footsteps of most occult-themed titles of the time that rose in popularity as a result of mainstream coverage and celebrity interest in Anton Lavey's newly-established Church of Satan. This formation of beliefs caused a resurgence of interest in the occult between high-ranking members of society and film- makers alike. Hungry Wives ignores religion; choosing to tackle issues concerning the always-flawed ideology of social and gender roles. Female empowerment is a prominent theme on display and this wouldn't be the last time Romero would shine light on societal issues. There are plenty of vague scenes that offer little substance. As with most Romero films, you have a low-end cast full of actors and actresses that either use their amateur experience as a stepping stone for improvement or a paycheck to get by. Thankfully, in every Romero film I've seen, the acting is tolerable. When you've scraped the bottom of the barrel for so long you come to appreciate some semblance of talent - because seriously, you can't even begin to imagine the rigors or hardship of sitting through a movie like 1980's Anthropophagous, a dwelling so deep beneath the Earth that it ends up in China.The film's conclusion manages to incite a "...what the...." response, but the path one must take to reach that point is a slow and arduous one. I'm actually on the fence when it comes to Hungry Wives - there are some moments that'll make you regret saying negative things about the movie while on the other hand it's difficult to remember anything great about it. In recent years, Romero has made his displeasure known when asked about this film - there are various clues that point to a large amount of editing that took place as the film's original release was cut from 130 minutes to 89 minutes. Despite Romero's self-deprecation, Hungry Wives need only be seen by Romero purists.**A young female actress (maybe in her early 20's back then) by the name of Joedda McClain played a role in Hungry Wives - it was her first and last film. There are fans who express interest in wondering where she disappeared to. I was almost certain I found her on Facebook, and decided to write her a message. Needless to say she never wrote me back. Geesh Joedda, I was merely curious of any details I could use in my review! Help me out here! This is a true story, by the way.

Scarecrow-88 Very unusual Romero feature, which to me resembles a Cassavetes film, regarding an emotionally numb housewife, Joanie(Jan White)who desires something more than sitting at home while her hippie daughter Nikki(Joedda McClain)is out having a good time and husband, Jack(Bill Thunhurst)is always away on business. When Jack is home, he's constantly griping about this and that, and her daughter is dating Gregg(Raymond Laine), a young man who embraces a care-free lifestyle and carries a very unappealing disregard for the suburban rich and the old establishment. Joanie's sexual life is anything but grand and she finds herself drawn to Gregg, despite finding his manners off-putting, and is quite uncomfortable with his liberated, unconcerned behavior towards those he finds *ugly*. Yet, she desires for his touch after arriving home after an unfortunate night with a really troubled neighborhood gal-pal, who Gregg embarrassed earlier in the evening after a visit with a witch(..he tricked her into believing that she was smoking marijuana), hearing the passions of her daughter being *balled* by him in Nikki's bedroom. Joanie becomes intrigued with witchcraft after her initial visit with the neighborhood witch, and soon starts dabbling with it after purchasing some items from a store. When Nikki leaves home after realizing her mom was listening to her throes of sexual bliss, Joanie soon supposedly uses a spell on Gregg to seduce him, with an affair as a result. Joanie is also plagued with surreal dreams of a nightmare man(Bill Hinzman)breaking into her home, dressed in black with a creepy disfigured mask, chasing after her..when she attempts to escape Joanie finds that the outer door knobs are either chained or belted. In the opening scene, Joanie has a dream depicting various images of things both from her past(..a baby that may've been miscarried, limbs whipping across her face as hubby remains with his face buried in his newspaper unconcerned with her well being and practically ignoring her mere presence, future lover Gregg, among other things like riding a swing)and possible future, with Romero setting up the fact that this woman is troubled with a variety of emotional problems.I think the film is an experimental, avant-garde way of viewing the psychological torment of a woman needing emotional fulfillment and not finding it. Through the subtle, under-played performance of Jan White(..I love an actress who tells us through her eyes what the character is truly going through, even if we can not see it on her face), we get an idea of how Joanie is hiding buried desires while attempting to disregard how she truly feels, eventually succumbing to them. I never felt she was a witch who could perform any act of magic, but someone embracing something new and different as a way of bringing meaning to an unrewarding life. Joanie is often shown, when her husband is home(..which isn't much), miserably withdrawn and perhaps seething with regret(..this was what I felt looking at her in the scenes when they are together in bed or at the dinner table)at ever marrying this man. I don't think many casual horror(..and Romero)fans will cling to "Season of the Witch" for it really isn't a horror film at all despite the deceptive title. More of a bleak study of a woman with too much time on her hands, living an unsatisfied life yearning for something more substantial. My favorite sequences concern Bill Hinzman's masked intruder who rushes Joanie attempting to assault her in her nightmares. Romero uses a lot of expressionistic lighting, often through window shades at night with his camera often closing tightly towards the faces of characters, mainly Joanie and Hinzman's nightmare man. The opening dream sequence is something straight out of Bunuel..all you'd need is a goat as a finishing touch. Most of the film, though, is dialogue and performance, as the film often scathingly involves the nature of bored housewives, their behavior and gossip. The film very much rides on the success of White's performance because Romero's camera often focuses completely on her face. A great deal of the film is often claustrophobic, taking place in Joanie's home and Romero pretty much captures every aspect inside..this is indeed Joanie's *prison* and I felt he does a good job of often confining us to this place. Still, the film is unpolished, often moving at a rather leisurely pace, with abrupt music disrupted by quick cuts from one scene to the next. The print, for which Anchor Bay apologized for, isn't the greatest in the world, looking quite affected by time.