MovieChat Forums > The Witches (1966) Discussion > OMG! Just Caught The Last 20 Minutes

OMG! Just Caught The Last 20 Minutes

posted 9 years ago by mrgogonyc
16 replies | jump to latest

And it is high camp. What a ridiculous frenzy that coven gets into. Loonily choreographed like Twyla Tharp unchained. Not only do they have to worship in unison, they must keep the same beat and body 'tude. And then they get all messy with some chocolate looking stuff.

Was just switching channels and came upon this. No one had prepared me for it. Now, I am scarred until I watch it with someone else so that they can validate that I wasn't hallucinating. I could have been mistaken for being in a coven frenzy as my eyes were rolling up in my head so often. Thank you, The Devil's Own, for giving me my cinema laugh of the week.

If it is not in the frame, it does not exist!

[–] eolloe 9 years ago

lol I was thinking Martha Graham.

Did you get a view of the platform shoes the coven leader had on?

[–] karnevilelp 9 years ago

I liked the movie overall, but the coven scene was a bit silly. It looked like it was filmed after the movie had run out of its budget, so lets cram everyone in to a small space, have some drummers and horn players make some noise and dance, damn you, DANCE!!!

Did like that just smearing blood on the coven leader Stephanie was enough to kill her, but when Gwen is in school, presumably not long after, we see no evidence of a scar on her arm. Call continuity, please! 

[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

Although I know some Wiccans who dance naked in the pale moonlight, I've never asked them about the ceremonies, nor witnessed them. It did look like they were taking elements from Celtic folklore/Goddess worship/Druidism and combining some elements from Africa for the main character's benefit.

[–] Jason_Radley 9 years ago

It was like a psychedelic premonition of a Michael Jackson video.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] euronick61 9 years ago

You have to remember this film was made in 1966 .. you have to assume that the coven scene would really have been an orgy but they wouldn't have been allowed to show that ... Stephanie did mention an orgy earlier ...also there were gay overtones as two of the men were seen briefly massaging that oil, or whatever it was, into each others bodies ... I think given the period it was made in and the limited budget it wasn't at all bad

can you imagine it being made now ... there would be blood and guts everywhere and all sorts of nonesense

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] sillyspaghetti 8 years ago

I think the end scene looks a bit rude.

[–] PACman66 8 years ago

It was hilarious! This film has got to have the distinction of having the funniest "Black/Satanic Mass" scene in any movie! If there is one more silly this, please.... Someone tell me!

[–] sillyspaghetti 8 years ago

Check out Devil's Prey with Patrick Bergin.... "Oh Satan! Watch over us as we do your evil work!" Or words to that effect!

[–] Wuchak (8295) 2 years ago

It's no where near as giggle-inducing as the opening sequence in "Curse of the Crimson Altar," aka "The Crimson Cult" (1968).

[–] Satan2016 (23944) 2 years ago

The Witches / Ceremony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p9ZswK0GR0 (HD)

To honour her father's dying wish, Queen Salina shares the rule of Icena with Justinian, a fair and just Roman. This displeases the bloodthirsty Druids on one side and the more hard-line Romans on the other. As Salina and Justinian fall in love their enemies start to plot, and blood soon stains the green hills of Britain.

[–] Cranmer (139) 2 years ago

Yes it's hilarious. Particularly the torn/ragged clothes they wear. Why? OK they don't want to spoil their 'sunday best' but why would they wear completely ruined clothes like postapocalyptic zombies? The dancing in unison is pure camp, it's the sort of thing 1960s drama students doing 'primal dance therapy' or something would think really good. Also the ridiculous antiphonal chanting of the high priestess!
It's a shame because the rest of the film is really good, particularly the mounting sense of fear and unease. I get the impression they ran out of money/ideas on how to end it though. Similar to the ending of 'To the Devil a Daughter' in the 1970s.

[–] mechajutaro (2788) 2 years ago

One has to wonder if Lindy West has seen and revised this movie yet. Or if she could do, without suffering an aneurysm over just how "problematic" the content of the film is

[–] Cranmer (139) 2 years ago

Well there's a lack of fat people represented in the film, so that may be a problem for her.

[–] Wuchak (8295) 2 years ago

Particularly the torn/ragged clothes they wear. Why?

Because, except for the high priestess, they were engaging in some messy practices in their occultic ritual, like squeezing lemon juice all over their head & faces, which dripped down to their apparel, as well as sloppily partaking of some muddy-looking substance, not to mention it looks like they were meeting in a dirty cavern or semi-cavern. Then there's the sweaty 'aerobics' intrinsic to the ceremony. Hence, the occasion called for grungy clothes they didn't care about. Keep in mind this was rural England in 1965 (when the flick was shot), which was well before there was a readily available Walmart or similar department store to purchase cheap clothing. So rags from the bottom drawer were the best option.