User reviews

History of THE WITCHMAKER initial marketing and premiere in 1969 ------------- Here's the background story of my connection with THE WITCHMAKER (1969 Excelsior Films) starring Alvy Moore, Thordis Brandt, Anthony Eisley, and John Lodge (also Susan Bernard).

Before that, I worked two years as a regional movie publicist for the Jack Wodell Associates SF CA USA based regional ad/PR agency which specialized in local (SF Bay area) movie publicity, primarily for Warner Bros., but also for other studios, large and small.

United Artists Theatre Chain of SF CA showed a lot of "Indy" movies (along w/Hollywood studio movies) in movie houses and drive in theaters the chain owned.

THE WITCHMAKER (1969) was aimed at drive in theaters, which did big biz w/teen agers in parked cars necking quite a bit, and not paying attention to the quality of the movie.

It was a rather dull movie, never became a "classic," but did well anyway, made money for it's investors when presented at large chains of drive-in movie theatres, still operating in the LA CA USA area and elsewhere in 1969.

It was created from the partnership of LQ Jones and Alvy Moore, both character actors of long experience and high standing in Hollywood for 20 years before THE WITCHMAKER (1969) was made and released.

The movie was shot in Louisiana in 3 weeks, featured Ms. Thordis Brandt, who was a famous beauty queen of the times who had appeared in FUNNY GIRL (1968) starring Barbra Streisand...Brandt was a Ziegfeld Follies beauty (in contrast to ugly Steisand, which was the joke of the movie.....Fanny Brice/ Streisand made more money, got more famous than the beauties who worked as Ziegfeld beauty queen girls).

Brandt was no actress. She was a model for still photos.

She ran through the jungles of Louisiana bare breasted, but cupping her tits with her hands. THAT was the big sex scene in the show.

Keep in mind porn had just become legal, and the Sex Revolution of the 1960's was in high gear.....subject of big interest for the public which the major studios didn't get near.

Indy movie makers jumped in to make money and did covering the subject, recruiting the likes of Thordis Brandt and other "witches" and girls of beauty part of the movie to show off their charms and parts.

Making Indy movies is not an original idea....many get made, most go nowhere, including very good ones with very famous names and big stars...but no distribution.

Jones and Moore got VERY lucky connected with the SF CA USA based United Artists Theatre Circuit....which backed THE WITCHMAKER (1969) ...already finished when the deal was made.

MORE movies were funded and made, but never did as well as the THE WITCHMAKER which was tested and promoted and premiered in Phoenix, AZ at the Acres Drive In, and promoted on the local KOOL-TV Gene Autry owned TV station.

I was the main guy in Phoenix AZ flown for a month or so to Phoenix AZ to set up and execute the premiere of THE WITCHMAKER (1969) which eventually included a gathering of all the big shots and actors part of the movie....they appeared on local TV and other local media, and hyped the show.....which did VERY well at the Acres Drive in during the hot summer of 1969 (June or July or so).

I was 25 years old, but quite a big shot publicist and publicity/ PR manager for JackWodell Assoc. Ad and PR Co. at 582 Market St, 19th Floor (which also was the main publicist for the SF CA USA Film Festival, and did non-movie PR on occasion for restaurants such as the IMPERIAL PALACE Restaurant of fame in Chinatown, SF USA).

Jack Wodell Assoc. created the TV ads and previews of coming attraction ads (aka "Trailers") and also the radio spot ads and also the newspaper ads for THE WITCHMAKER (also the "one sheet" movie posters, which I have a copy of in my kitchen as I type this in 2012 in Columbia PA USA!).

It also placed all the ads for the movie in Southern Calif. where United Artists Theatre Circuit owned maybe 70 drive-ins, ALL of which opened THE WITCHMAKER on the same 1969 weekend, and that resulted in VERY big money for everybody! Sue Bernard was in the movie, and she was the 25 year old daughter of Bruno Bernard, aka "Bruno of Hollywood" who was famous for movie star celebrity portraits.

Sue is now a very rich old lady in her late 60's still raking in money because her Dad shot the most famous photo of all of Marilyn Monroe, and left Sue the Copyright.

Right! The movie lasted and lasted and lasted.

It was turned into a VHS tape in the 1980's which few Indy horror movies of the 1960's were......one can still buy movie posters for the movie on the Internet.

Most of the people part of it are dead or geezer.

Well.....memories from Tex Allen (birth name David Roger Allen) of THE WITCHMAKER (1969 Excelsior Films) starring Alvy Moore, Anthony Eisely, John Lodge, Thordis Brandt, and Sue Bernard (and others

Dr Ralph Hayes (Alvy Moore) leads a group of psychic researchers into the wilds of a Louisiana swamp. A series of murders has Hayes thinking there might be a witch operating in the swamp. One of his team, Anastasia (Thordis Brandt), is a sensitive - someone tuned to picking up psychic impulses. Hayes hopes she will be able to lead them to the witch. But the local witch, Luther the Berserk (John Lodge), has his own plans. He wants Anastasia in his coven. He starts killing off Hayes' team one-by-one. Can Hayes and Co save Anastasia and the rest of their group?

The Witchmaker isn't what I'd call a good movie in the traditional sense, but it is reasonably effective and enjoyable if you're into this kind of thing. The biggest plus The Witchmaker has going for it is atmosphere. At times, the atmosphere is palatable. The isolation, the creepy swamp, the Satanic trappings, and the even the low budget look of the film - all worked on me and filled me with a real sense of unease. If there's one thing that really creeps me out, it's low-budget Satanic mumbo-jumbo. Also, I thought John Lodge was particularly effective as Luther. He uses his size to his advantage as he attacks the members of Hayes' group. It's a really frightening visage.



As my rating indicates, the movie isn't perfect to me. The biggest issue I have is Alvy Moore. The problem is that as long as I've been alive, Alvy Moore has always been Hank Kimble from Green Acres. You see, not only is Green Acres on of my two or three favorite television shows, but the stammering, forgetful Kimble is my favorite character. I can't look at the man and not think of Kimble. So when, as Dr Hayes, he's trying to give some sort of scientific explanation to what's happening, it doesn't work. It sounds so silly coming out of Alvy Moore's mouth. I complimented the film's atmosphere, but unfortunately, Alvy Moore ruins whatever atmosphere the film has built up at that point. He goes off-screen, things get creepy. He comes back, not so creepy. It's too bad for The Witchmaker that Alvy Moore was so good at playing light, zany comedy.

I am definitely giving this movie another chance, IF it ever receives a proper DVD release complete with restored sound and polished up picture quality. I couldn't really enjoy my viewing of "The Witchmaker", but most likely that was due to the questionable quality of the VHS-rip rather than the actual movie. I found myself staring at a black screen most of the time, yet in between all the vagueness it was obvious that this movie is worthwhile enough to deserve a decent DVD edition. Unfortunately that still doesn't mean it's a great film. "The Witchmaker" is merely a hodgepodge of good conceptual ideas, outstanding locations & scenery, ominous atmospheres and genuinely spooky images, but sadly the script is massively incoherent and several of the plot's details aren't elaborated to the fullest. The main trump is undoubtedly the grisly swamp setting! I used to think the British countryside had a monopoly on forming the ideal setting for stories about witchcraft and devil-worshiping ("Blood on Satan's Claw" and "The Witchfinder General" are two prime examples), but that was before I saw the same story set in the Louisianan bayou region! The area looks as good as impenetrable and feels genuinely inescapable and isolated. At a certain point in the story, the remaining survivor characters desperately want to get out the swamp – and who could blame them – but it simply isn't possibly because their cabin is only reachable by boat and the boatman one passes by per week. Even in remote rural Britain they didn't have that problem! Several beautiful young girls have been murdered in the Bayou over the last few years, and the macabre modus operandi leads to suspect there's a coven witches active in the area. The corpses are hung upside down from a tree and there are eerie symbols painted on their naked bodies. The murders are indeed the work of a dude named Luther the Berserk, a master of Sabbath, who needs the women's blood for his occult rituals. Alvy Moore plays paranormal detective Ralph Hayes who travels to the area to research the murders. One of the expedition members tagging along is the indescribably beautiful Thordis Brandt and her character is the granddaughter of an actual witch! Hayes dragged her aboard because she's more sensitive to paranormal activity, but Luther also notices her talents and promptly sets up a plan to recruit her as his own witch. Okay, we have a splendid setting, a plot with the utmost potential AND a number of disturbing moments (I swear, the sights of those naked and smeared girls' bodies are positively unnerving), so what's the problem? I'm really not sure, but fact is that "The Witchmaker" doesn't quite live up to its own potential. The suspense building is too often undercut by seemingly endless psychologist conversations and occult gibberish. The film is just too talkative and, like another reviewer stated already, the characters drink way too much coffee, which is probably the reason why they keep talking and talking and talking! The first twenty minutes (up until Brandt's semi-topless run through the swamp) as well the finale are pure fascinating horror stuff, but it's difficult to stay focused throughout the tedious and uneventful middle section. Nonetheless, "The Witchmaker" is a very interesting American witchcraft/Satanist movie and honestly deserves to be slightly more known among genre fanatics.

Alvy Moore leads a group of individuals into the deep swamplands to investigate paranormal activities. As luck would have it, this little neck of the bayou has been the locus of several ritual murders over the past couple of years, of which all the victims were pretty young girls. One of the crew of outsiders(the lovely and zaftig Thordis Brandt) is the descendant of a witch, and her presence piques the interest of an evil warlock determined to recruit her into his coven.

Despite its financial strife, The Witchmaker is an atmospheric, smartly made production with an effective curveball ending, and I suspect it may be a bit more lettered in illustrating the various wonts of occultism than many other films of its type. Surprisingly scary at points, and benefiting from a creepy score by Jaime Mendoza-Nava, this one's worth seeking out(if only for the scene of Ms. Brandt running slow-motion and topless through the swamp, cupping her hands over her gigantic bare breasts).

7/10

The Witchmaker is aka The Legend of Witch Hollow - both titles work for the film. It's about a sensitive and some of her colleagues that end up in the Louisiana swamps to conduct some psychic research. They've heard about several woman being killed and drained of their blood. The male witch sees to sensitive and wants to make her a part of the coven of witches.

The film would have been better if the film actually focused more on the psychic research and investigation of the murders instead of the male witch working with the lead and real witch to bring the psychic girl into the coven. The movie really moves away from what we are told the story is about - so the plot and film's summary are quite a bit misleading. Plot is about their intentions to begin with but not the films focus.

It's a passable witch film - nothing really special.

3.5/10

I managed to find a second-hand VHS copy on eBay but to date there's no DVD version. Maybe that speaks for itself. A slightly hammy, poorly researched film, that doesn't even agree with the Christian account of Satanism, let alone the pagan notion of Witchcraft. And not even a Satanist would recognise the rituals conjured up in this film. I get the feeling they made up the rituals as they went along because they're rather obvious and simple-minded i.e. drinking the victims blood from a chalice.

Why is the Egyptian Ankh symbol of eternity scribed around the victims navel? The usual symbol for witches is the pentagram, which in this case would be inverted since this is a Satanist coven.

In terms of sheer entertainment value then I have seen worse films, so probably worth watching is you're curious.

Although I guess it's the studio releasing the movie who's getting the money. If you are into witchery there are some nice scenes and some neat story development. There is a lot of downtime in between some better scenes, but I can't really recommend you watch just the beginning and the end now can I? No I won't of course.

But it's up to you and maybe the trailer (that I didn't watch) has the best moments in it anyway. Check it before you waste your time (probably). Otherwise don't say you weren't warned.

Not that this isn't a very respectable effort overall, and an atmospheric midnight movie. It manages to be both somewhat old fashioned and somewhat modern. The filmmakers aren't afraid to jazz up their production a bit with some violence and nudity, but never go overboard, always maintaining a mood of doom and gloom until its dark twist ending. Alvy Moore plays it pretty straight as a professor who ventures into swampy territory, with some students in tow, to do some psychic research while a killer is claiming nubile local girls. Thordis Brandt is buxom blonde Anastasia, a psychically gifted "sensitive" (yes, the word is used as a noun here) and the granddaughter of a witch, who will help them obtain details, and Anthony Eisley co-stars as our studly hero Vic. Meanwhile, a local Satan worshipper, Luther the Berserk (hulking John Lodge), senses Anastasia's potential and plots to use her for his own purposes. "The Witchmaker" is one of a few productions put together by Moore and contemporary L.Q. Jones, above average genre films that managed to be both intelligent and creepy. These also include "The Brotherhood of Satan" and "A Boy and His Dog". The movie does have a wonderful "late show" sort of appeal, and does have some very nice moments, but they're spread sort of thin at first, as the film gets bogged down in talk and just sort of plods along. However, it does ultimately start getting better, and more interesting in general. It becomes quite fun when Luther starts inviting all manner of witches to his abode, some of them played by the likes of Sue Bernard ("Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"), Patricia Wymer ("The Babysitter"), and TV horror host Larry "Seymour" Vincent. Also appearing are character actor Burt Mustin, and Helene Winston, who also acted in "The Brotherhood of Satan" and "A Boy and His Dog". Lodge is the most fun as the villain of the piece, a part that John Davis Chandler was originally tapped to play. Moore and Jones are the executive producers, and William O. Brown is the writer / producer / director. The film does benefit from the music score by Jaime Mendoza-Nava, although some viewers could find the lighting by John Arthur Morrill to be too murky. The undeniable highlight of the entire thing is seeing Brandt run in slow motion while covering her ample bosom with her hands. Worth seeking out for die hard horror fans eager to discover the lesser known efforts of yesteryear, "The Witchmaker" is interesting viewing as far as witchcraft cinema goes. Seven out of 10.

The Satan-worshipping killer of nubile women in the Louisiana bayou sets his sights on a sexy psychic there to investigate the murders; she's a "sensitive" whose grandmother was a witch, and Luther the Berserk wants to bring her into his coven (which he pronouns "cove-in"). Second (and final) film for writer-director William O. Brown opens with a brutal murder scene (the female victim is attacked from behind, marked with a symbol, hung upside from a tree and slashed, her bright red blood dripping into a bucket). Unfortunately, Brown doesn't have anything of interest to follow up his grisly opening--it may have been enough to help get him funding, but what happened to Acts II and III? Apart from the 'spooky' music, amateurish makeup effects and awkward performances, there's not a whole helluva lot happening here. * from ****

Been a huge fan of this flick for many moons....never get tired of old Luther chanting his praises for his almighty "Satan"..pretty ahead of it's time and very real when it comes to the berserker\witchcraft genre..Can't understand why this film is virtually unknown even to real horror buffs....Worth seeking out...Still no official DVD release of this little gem.....worth a remake....Satan....GIVE ME MY PURPOSE!!!!!..........and check out the cool Louisiana bayou atmosphere very creepy and foggy....Love Luther's digs.....Too bad most of the cast including the amazing John Lodge are all taking dirt naps..Would also like to know why the director William o. Brown fell off the face of the earth after this picture was made way back in 1969....

Set in and around a cabin in a creepy bayou, The Witchmaker (AKA The Legend of Witch Hollow) sees a group of psychic investigators encounter Luther the Berserk (John Lodge), a murderous master of the Sabbat who seeks to induct sexy 'sensitive' Anastasia (Thordis Brandt) into his coven of witches.

While this drive-in cheapie isn't a particularly great film - its basic premise is stretched rather too thin over 99 minutes, resulting in an uneven pace - it should still be of interest to avid horror fans: the remote cabin locale, foggy woods and witchy goings-on are reminiscent of both The Blair Witch Project and The Evil Dead, and the brutal slaying of innocent girls is suitably nasty (they're stripped, killed, strung upside-down and bled).

The film also benefits from a bevy of shapely '60s babes, including some very sexy witches in Luther's coven. While there is no actual nudity (bare breasts are carefully obscured by objects in the foreground), there's still a fair amount of skin on show: the women of the group leave their cabin for a spot of sunbathing, the witches cavort in their underwear, and the raciest scene sees Brandt running full pelt through the woods in her panties clutching her breasts.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the silly surprise ending.

All right.

So, there is some satanic rituals going on in the bayou. Alvy Moore(from GREEN ACRES, and also one of this film's producers) and his group are investigating into this Deep South hell, and its RACE WITH THE DEVIL time.

I have a somewhat trimmed version of this film, but despite this, I enjoyed WITCHMAKER emmensly. It has blood, nudity, and some pretty intense scenes. In a sense, it is what all drive-in films should be, entertaining.

I'll be getting the DVD version, once they put it out. And I definitely won't be buying that wimpy BLAIR WITCH flick. WITCHMAKER is the real deal.

A team of paranormal investigators venture deep into the swamps of Louisiana to find out why numerous young females have been found dead, drained of their blood. They're unaware that a sabbat-master lives there. Will any of them make it out alive?

"The Witchmaker" (1969) came in the tradition of films like "The City of the Dead" (1960), "Masque of the Red Death" (1964), "Devils of Darkness" (1965) and "The Witches" (1966), aka "The Devil's Own." That last one took the topic a step further by depicting a devilish ceremony more explicitly, which might strike modern viewers as cheesy and amusing. This one does a better job with a surprisingly well-done black ceremony in the last act (which smacks of a hedonistic Viking celebration more than anything else).

I included the year of release of those flicks to show the cinematic progression of witch-oriented movies in the '60s. "The Crimson Cult" from 1968 is yet another example, aka "Curse of the Crimson Altar." "Mark of the Witch" came out the year after this one, 1970. Then came "The Brotherhood of Satan" and "Race With the Devil" in the early/mid '70s. LQ Jones was involved in the production of this one and "The Brotherhood of Satan." He even appears in both, although his role here is uncredited.

Now, someone might criticize that I'm mixing up witchcraft with satanism, but so do all of these movies. Take this one, where an idol of satan is used in their diabolical ceremony.

On the feminine front, blonde Thordis Brandt is sharp as Tasha and Sue Bernard is notable as Felicity (you might remember her as the winsome bikini girl in "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" from 3 years prior). Brunette Warrene Ott is also worth noting as young Jessie. There are others but, for the most part, the director didn't know how to shoot women (no pun intended), such as was done passably in "Mark of the Witch."

The ending is kinda eye-rolling but, otherwise, this is way better than I thought it'd be for such an obscure occult-oriented flick from the '60s.

It runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and was shot in Marksville, which is in the heart of Louisiana; interiors, however, were done in the studio in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-

A pretty girl swims in a dirty-looking Louisiana swamp. Her fun is spoiled by Luther (John Lodge), a murderous warlock with bushy eyebrows. He attacks her, strings up her naked corpse, slashes her throat with a knife, and collects her blood in an urn.

THE WITCHMAKER places psychic researcher Dr. Hayes (Alvy Moore, of GREEN ACRES fame), a handful of his students, and magazine reporter Vic (Anthony Eisley) in Luther's swampy homeland, just as a new spate of killings terrorizes the area. One of Hayes' charges, Tasha (Thordis Brandt), is soon Luther's target -- he wants her to join his witch's coven.

Hayes and Vic argue a lot. The latter makes some good points; namely, how could Hayes justify risking the lives of his students by entering the swamp? When this happens, Hayes constantly reminds Vic who's in charge. However, one by one the students turn up dead, fodder for Luther's blood ceremony. During a fire-and-brimstone ceremonies, Luther conjures a female witch with the power to manipulate Tasha telepathically, forcing her to commit crimes. Other witches and warlocks are brought into the proceedings, resulting in a few mild PG-rated orgies and bacchanals.

Interesting ideas pop up here and there. For instance, in a unique turn the script explains mysticism and witchcraft in scientific terms. The witch ceremonies are staged with an unusually authentic eye for detail. The death scenes of some major characters are also a big surprise.

Mediating against these elements: A gimmick in which a person who wears a garlic wreath is invisible to witches, and terrible electronic "spooky music." score. Hayes and Vic spend a lot of time with their hands in their pockets, theorizing about what might be going on around them. In the unexpectedly exciting finale, our heroes ruin the witches blood ceremony. THE WITCHMAKER is different and interesting in spots, but the pace is slow.

Producers L. Q. Jones and Alvy Moore followed THE WITCHMAKER with two outstanding and strange efforts, BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN (1971) and A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975). In interviews, Jones has dismissed THE WITCHMAKER somewhat, implying the results were interesting but disappointing. By and large, his script is more intelligent than I expected. Technically, though, THE WITCHMAKER suffers from B-movie acting.

On the lighter side, some scenes are infected by a serious love of caffeine. Everyone drinks a lot of coffee, or responds to danger and death by desiring more cups of coffee. The more Hayes and Vic drink it, the more bizarre the dialog becomes:

HAYES: I think our friend Luther is a berserk.

VIC: A berserk? Since when is berserk a noun?

HAYES: Not for hundreds of years.

In addition, a lot of effort was made to keep THE WITCHMAKER away from an R rating, as in one amusing scene meant to be played topless, in which actress Thordis Brandt is directed to run across deserted terrain, awkwardly covering her breasts with her hands.

Completists will note Luther's orgiastic coven includes Sue Bernard, who played the bikini-clad bimbo in Russ Meyer's FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL! KILL!, and some may recognize the belly dancer as Diane Webber, a former Playboy bunny and the lead in John Lamb's MERMAID OF TIBURON. And Warrene Ott, here playing the leader of the blood ceremony who is splashed with pig's blood in a shocking moment, was the heroine in THE UNDERTAKER AND HIS PALS, an early gore movie.

This film is very enjoyable for those who like "bad movies". I thought it was great. The camera work alone has that eerie drive-in look and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

It's not what you would call "scary" but it does have it's eerie moments. My only problem with the movie was the characters drank a whole lot of coffee. That, and it could have been a little bloodier.

I bought a copy of this film and it's called the "uncut version". It didn't seem to be any different than the one I'd watched years ago. In actuality, the "uncut" version is less violent than most of today's TV shows. But as far as witch movies go, this is by far one of the best.

Diane Webber played The Nautch of Tangier; the witch dancing on the table in the cave. Ms. Webber is the reason I bought the film in the first place.

After four local girls are found, murdered, hung up downside down in tree, and drained of blood in a Louisians swamp , an intrepid documentary team comes to investigate. They're actually a lot more intrepid than intelligent though because they decide to stay in an isolated cabin in the middle of the swamp with their only way in or out being a local yokel in a boat who promises to come back and get them in a week, but is incommunicado in the meantime. One of the female members of the team is a "sensitive" who is attuned to witches and who had a grandmother who was an actual witch. The perpetrators turn out to be a female witch, Jessie, and a male "berserker", Lucas, who maintain their youth by drinking human blood. They make short work of most of the team, but take special interest in the "sensitive" who they hope to add to their coven.

This has elements of a lot of future movies--not only "The Blair Witch Project", but also "The Legend of Hell House" as well as other Louisiana-filmed regional obscurities like "The Crypt of Dark Secrets". On the other hand, however, this film is really quite unique in a lot of ways and there never has really been another film like it. It kind of invents its own mythology what with the "berserker", the witches who stay young by drinking blood(which sounds more like vampires), and odd facts like garlic making one invisible to witches and pig's blood being very bad for black masses. The film is also strange in that it in many ways seems like a 50's film, but then it also contains some surprisingly graphic violence and not-so-graphic sex and nudity, and it has the kind of nihilistic ending much more common in 70's films. The most weird and memorable aspect though comes at the end when the villains hold a coven meeting/black sabbath and their coven turns out to include any number of witches, real and fictional, from throughout history, including "Goody Hale" (one of the few Salem residents NOT accused of witchcraft).

The cast is mostly unknowns. The male lead was in "Green Acres", I guess. Two of the coven members are Patricia Wymer (as the "Hag of Devon") and Sue Bernard (as "Felicity Johnson"). Wymer played the titular (and ass-ular) character in "The Babysitter" and also appeared in "The Young Graduates". Bernard, a former Playboy Playmate, had been the bikini-clad girl in Russ Meyers "Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill" and appeared in a number of 70's horror/exploitation films such as Bert Gordon's "The Witching" (also somewhat similar to this) and Curtis Harrington's "The Killing Kind". The pair have all of about two lines between them here, but this isn't really a film that depends much on actors (although the guy playing "Lucas" is pretty good). It gets plenty of mileage just out of its genuinely unique weirdness.

The Witchmaker (1969)

** (out of 4)

The setting is deep in the Louisiana swamps where legend has it there have always been witch's who kill young ladies. It turns out one of the last members of a coven of witches is doing the killing and soon more victims arrive. A group of psychic researching, posing as location scouts, show up and before long they come face to face with the witches.

THE WITCHMAKER was one of the first films to try and cash in on the success of ROSEMARY'S BABY and it pretty much goes by the handbook as far as witch movies go. Well, to be fair, I guess we should say that a lot of films dealing with witches and Satanic curses showed up in the later part of the 1960s but this one here certainly isn't among the best.

It's really too bad that there were so many flaws with this picture because there are some very good things scattered throughout the running time. The film was obviously shot with very little money and this actually helped the picture and especially where the look was concerned. The swamp setting is actually wonderful and the film has a good atmosphere to it. I think a lot of the atmosphere was created because they simply didn't have much money for a fancy looking picture so we're left with a rather raw film.

The problem with the film is that the majority of the over-long 98-minute running time has characters talking and the dialogue isn't that interesting. In fact, I'd also argue that none of the characters are all that interesting and you certainly don't care about any of them. The more they talk the more annoying they become and you eventually just tune them out. The performances range from fair to poor but this is pretty typical of this type of film.

I will say that the film offers up quite a bit of blood and especially for a movie of this era. There's not really any graphic violence and there is some rather funny bits of sexuality. It seems the director was willing to hint at the nudity but not show it so whenever you think you're about to see something we then get a quick edit. The highlight of the film is when actress Thordis Brandt goes running through the woods but covering her breasts to make sure there isn't any nudity shown.

In THE WITCHMAKER, eight women have been killed in the same bizarre, ritualistic fashion. All in the same bayou. Psychic researcher, Dr. Hayes (Alvy Moore) and his team, along with a reporter, have arrived to investigate the phenomenon

This is a fantastic drive-in movie of the period, full of occult horror, suspense, and a general atmosphere of impending doom. Moore plays his role straight, without a hint of his TV persona from Green Acres. Nor does he smirk with ironic self-awareness. He's serious, and it works!

Thordis Brandt's character, Tasha, is what is known in the film as a "sensitive", what might be called an "empath" today. Tasha becomes the central character, mixed up with the wicked practitioners of the dark arts, including the insane, aptly named "Luther The Berserk" (John Lodge), and an ancient witch known as Jessie (Helene Winston).

Aside from the odd moment of clunkiness, this is a solid offering of paranoia and dread...