utgard14 Joan Fontaine's final film is a horror flick for Hammer. She plays a teacher recovering from a nervous breakdown after surviving a terrifying experience with witch doctors in Africa. She takes a job in a small English village and seems happy there, despite the odd behavior of some of the locals. When weird things start happening, Joan investigates and discovers a plot to sacrifice a young girl in a pagan ritual.Joan does a fine job in her final movie. She would do some more TV work but this is it for her long film career. The rest of the cast is made up of solid British actors. Cyril Frankel's direction is good. He manages to evoke a fair amount of atmosphere for a picture that takes place almost entirely in daylight. In some ways it's a precursor to The Wicker Man. It's nowhere near as good as that film but there are some similar plot elements. The screenplay is from Nigel Kneale, best known for being the creator of Professor Quatermass and for his screenplay for the excellent 1957 Abominable Snowman film. Reportedly Kneale was dissatisfied with this film because he intended it to be a dark comedy that poked fun at witchcraft but Hammer wanted a serious horror movie so all comedic touches were removed. Well they missed a few because some of the most memorable parts of the movie, such as Joan being overrun by a flock of sheep and every scene of Kay Walsh in her pagan ritual get-up, are very funny. It's a decent movie of its type. Not really scary but interesting, particularly for Fontaine fans.

phillindholm One of legendary production company Hammer Films lesser known titles, ''The Witches'' was Golden Age Star Joan Fontaine's last theatrical film. She herself bought the rights to Norah Loft's ''The Devil's Own'' and brought it to Hammer, casting herself in the leading role of schoolteacher Gwen Mayfield. Ms. Mayfield is still recovering from a traumatic experience in Africa, where, while teaching , she became the target of the local Witch Doctor. Shortly after her subsequent breakdown, she accepts another teaching position in a small English village. At first, the placid atmosphere and friendly local folk seemingly aid her attempts to overcome the past. However, it's not long before she begins to sense that all is not what it appears. Fontaine, still lovely at 49, gives an incisive performance as the victimized teacher, who isn't sure at first whether or not she is imagining the disturbing events which surround her. The hand picked supporting cast, which includes such familiar faces as Leonard Rossiter (''Reginald Perrin'') Michele Dotrice, Shelagh Fraser ('Star Wars'') and, making her debut, as the target of ''The Witches'', Ingrid Boulting, here billed as Ingrid Brett. Despite excellent performances by all, the film is stolen by film veteran Kay Walsh (Oliver Twist) former wife of director David Lean, who plays free lance writer Stephanie Bax to perfection. Distinguished stage actor Alec McCowen appears as her rather ineffectual brother. Director Cyril Frankel moves things along at a leisurely pace, abetted by some splendid photography and a suitably eerie score by Richard Rodney Bennett. Alas, though the suspense is carefully cultivated from the beginning, things begin to get shaky at mid-point, when Mayfield lands in a nursing home, with her memory of the recent past gone. After a fairly lengthy stay, it's eventually restored. From here, she escapes just in time to join a frenzied climax in which the activities of the local Coven resemble an Aerobics workout at a Rescue Mission, rather than a Black Mass. Nevertheless, the wrap up is a satisfying one, and audiences who go for this sort of thing will not feel cheated. When ''The Witches'' was released in England in late 1966, it garnered some fine reviews, but little box office. For it's American debut (in early 1967) the title was changed to ''The Devil's Own'' in order to avoid confusion with an Italian film, ''The Witches'' (starring Clint Eastwood) which appeared around the same time. Unfortunately, ''The Devil's own'' ended up on the bottom half of a double bill with Hammer's abysmal ''Slave Girls'' (here dubbed ''Prehistoric Women''). and, again, it came and went quickly, much to the chagrin of Co-Produce Fontaine. Today, however, the film retains it's ability to intrigue the viewer, and thanks to it's fine cast, it remains one of Hammer's most underrated efforts.

MartinHafer "The Witches" is an incredibly silly film. While it has some good moments and is oddly entertaining, the film certainly made me laugh when it shouldn't have! Not surprisingly, this was Joan Fontaine's final big-screen appearance--as she thoroughly embarrassed herself.The movie begins with Miss Mayfield (Fontaine) somewhere in Africa where she's being attacked by some witch doctor sort of fellow. Suddenly, the scene magically cuts away and Mayfield somehow escaped! She's now in England and is applying for a job as a teacher. In this tiny town in the middle of nowhere, Mayfield is very happy and things seem rather ideal. However, after a while, she sees evidence of voodoo--and it reminds her of the evil that befell her in Africa. And, incidentally, Mayfield starts acting VERY nutty. Where does all this go? Well, see for yourself--but suffice to say it ends with a giant pagan orgy with dancing and gyrations--and also, interestingly, some hints at lesbianism.The film clearly has some spooky moments and sets the mood nicely. Unfortunately, it also abounds with silly overacting. Miss Mayfield either smiles and acts like Mary Poppins on goofballs or she acts rather nutty. But her performance pales in comparison of EVERYONE in the final scene--one which is unintentionally hilarious. It's also hilarious that the lady who seems VERY interested in Mayfield also told her about the only way to destroy her and the devil cult! This is much like Dr. No installing a self-destruct button on his nuclear power plant and marking it 'self-destruct' and then allowing James Bond to see it!!! Overall, overacted and full of silly plot holes BUT also oddly entertaining.By the way, perhaps I was a therapist and psychology teacher too long, but at the 5:40 mark, I laughed at the crude Freudian imagery. I am not sure if the filmmakers intended it--I think they did!!

Scott LeBrun This interesting if not altogether successful production for Britains' legendary Hammer Studios has a generally intriguing plot (it's scripted by Nigel Kneale, based on a novel by Norah Lofts) but it tends to become much less interesting after a crucial turn in the story, and leads to a less than satisfactory resolution. That's too bad, because the material did have some potential.Perhaps part of the problem is that Hammer was always so good with their period pieces that there's a lack of truly oppressive atmosphere with this contemporary set tale. After a hell of a start, the film, which could indeed have used a more masterful director like Terence Fisher at the helm, slowly loses its grip.Joan Fontaine made her last appearance in a theatrical feature here, from then on only acting on TV. The star of Hitchcocks' "Rebecca" and "Suspicion" plays Gwen Mayfield, a teacher who after a traumatic experience in Africa comes to the small English village of Heddaby to instruct at its local school. She'll soon come to suspect that some of the citizens are up to no good...but she'll have no idea just how big the problem is.The lovely Ms. Fontaine is appealing and sympathetic in the lead, and she receives solid support from an exemplary cast - Kay Walsh, Alec McCowen, Ann Bell, Ingrid Boulting, John Collin, Michele Dotrice, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies, Duncan Lamont, Leonard Rossiter, and Martin Stephens. As could be expected, this is a good looking Hammer production, well designed and photographed and featuring an eerie score composed by Richard Rodney Bennett.Admittedly, this can't compare to the best that Hammer has to offer, but it remains watchable enough until its finale. It may work better for those who aren't fans of the studio to begin with.Six out of 10.