Film Review: The Conqueror Worm (1. SYNOPSIS: “England is torn in civil strife as the Royalists battle the Parliamentary Party for control. This conflict distracts people from rational thought and allows unscrupulous men to gain local power by exploiting village superstitions. One of these men is Matthew Hopkins, who tours the land offering his services as a persecutor of witches. Aided by his sadistic accomplice John Stearne, he travels from city to city and wrenches confessions from . When Hopkins persecutes a priest, he incurs the wrath of Richard Marshall, who is engaged to the priest’s niece.
Risking treason by leaving his military duties, Marshall relentlessly pursues the evil Hopkins and his minion Stearne.” (courtesy IMDB)REVIEW: While 1. One of the most important milestones in this area was a film that was released comparatively quietly: The Conqueror Worm (1. Witchfinder General. The paradox is that this low- budget production was not strictly speaking a fantastic film at all, since there is no evidence that the witches (whose dreadful persecution is the film’s subject matter) had any real supernatural powers.
Produced by the British Tigon organisation, the film keenly exploited the commercially successful costume horrors from Hammer in the UK and Roger Corman in the US. Nevertheless the film has a broodingly sinister atmosphere, with Vincent Price playing the historical figure Matthew Hopkins, who traveled the country executing supposed witches under the powers given to him by the Roundhead parliament during the Civil War. The Conqueror Worm is one of the few films directed by Michael Reeves in his awfully brief career. As a child he started making short films featuring his school friend Ian Ogilvy.
Witchfinder General was based upon a novel of the same name written by Ronald Bassett; the rights to the novel were picked up by Tony Tenser's Tigon Productions, which had already produced. Matthew Hopkins: Conqueror Worm.
EDGAR ALLEN POE'S CONQUEROR WORM (aka Witchfinder General; Conqueror Worm; Matthew Hopkins -- Conqueror Worm) 1968 86m 35s. The Conqueror Worm also benefits from the stunning cinematography of Johnny Coquillon which juxtaposes the tranquil English countryside. Vincent Price (Matthew Hopkins), Ian Ogilvy (Richard Marshall), Rupert Davies (John. Reeves’ signature work, Witchfinder General (released in the US as The Conqueror Worm).
Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) has. Witchfinder General is a 1968 British horror film. The film was retitled The Conqueror Worm in the United States in an attempt to link it with Roger Corman. It is a very frightening film. Matthew Hopkins is the best.
His first professional work was as an associate director on The Long Ships (1. Castle Of The Living Dead (1. When he got The She- Beast (1. In 1. 96. 7 he directed and co- wrote The Sorcerers (1. Boris Karloff a major role in one of the few films worthy of his talent. Reeves even refused to allow my old friend Vincent Price to overact in The Conqueror Worm. Annoyed, Vincent snapped “Young man, I have made eighty- four films.
What have you done?”, to which Reeves replied “I’ve made two good films.” All was forgiven when Vincent saw the end product. Alas, on the 1. 1th of February 1.
The Oblong Box (1. Michael Reeves passed away aged just twenty- five, when he unwittingly combined alcohol and sleeping pills.
We lost a major talent and many fine films, and The Oblong Box became part of Gordon Hessler’s unimpressive career. Michael Reeves gave his boyhood friend Ian Ogilvy major roles in three of his films, and he gave a good performance each time. Ogilvy subsequently appeared in many television shows in England and America.
My personal favourite is his portrayal of Grayson, the school bully in the Ripping Yarns episode Tompkinson’s School Days. In 1. 97. 8 he played Simon Templar in all twenty- four episodes of The Return Of The Saint, though being regarded as the new Roger Moore was hardly a step in the right direction. With no mate to give him continued employment, Mr.
Ogilvy occupied his spare time by writing children’s books. They don’t know too many words, how hard can it be? His last prominent role was as hairdresser to the stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn in Death Becomes Her (1.
The real reason why The Conqueror Worm is considered a breakthrough film is for its unsettling violence. In his appalled horror at the historical sadism of Matthew Hopkins, Reeves went further than any commercial director before him in the kinds of brutality he decided could be shown on the screen. But there is no wallowing in horror, no actual enjoyment of what the film purports to condemn, as is so common in the visceral horror films of today. Rather, this is a sombre assessment of the reality of pain, and its ability to corrupt both givers and receivers.
It’s a deeply disturbing film, even when viewed in the cut version which, for several decades, was the only version screened in Australia and the UK – the torture of the heroine with needles in the kidneys was made barely visible, and the dismemberment of Hopkins with an axe was curtailed as well. In The Conqueror Worm, the cruelty is artistically justified, even necessary, but its significance in the history of cinema is, in part, that it was one of the key films that opened the way to ever more explicit gore at the horror end of the fantasy movie spectrum.
It’s with this thought in mind I’ll ask you to please join me next week when I have the opportunity to present you with more unthinkable realities and unbelievable factoids of the darkest days of cinema, exposing the most daring shriek- and- shudder shock sensations ever to be found in the steaming cesspit known as! Toodles! The Conqueror Worm (1.
The Conqueror Worm (1. Articles. The Conqueror Worm (1. England is the midst of a bloody civil war between the Royalists led by King Charles I and the Roundheads under the command of Oliver Cromwell.
It is a time of confusion and lawlessness, particularly in the backwoods villages and hamlets where the locals are uneducated and superstitious. Matthew Hopkins, the son of a Puritan minister and Loyalist supporter, takes advantage of this situation, riding from village to village with his assistant John Stearne, to investigate any accusations of witchcraft by the residents. Using torture to extract confessions from the accused, Hopkins and Stearne were said to have executed over 2. Hopkins died of natural causes in 1. The Discovery of Witchcraft, a defense of his career. Stearne, who retired in 1. A Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft, but neither man was ever punished for their atrocities which were committed primarily for political and financial gain (they were paid for their .
One of the few films to address this dark period in English history, Witchfinder General was produced for the exploitation horror market but Reeves's intentions were clearly more than just jolting audiences in their seats with sadistic scenes of violence. Hopkins's evil presence dominates the film and infects every character so that by the end - even the nominal hero and heroine of the story (played by Ian Ogilvy and Hilary Dwyer) - have been reduced to a base and demented state. The scenes of innocent people being accused and tortured for witchcraft rises in intensity as the film progresses until it reaches a ferocious, ax- hacking finale where Hopkins and Stearne finally receive their due. But Reeves offers the audience no pleasure or relief because the avenger has been reduced to Hopkins's level and is just as brutal and depraved. The Conqueror Worm was only Michael Reeves's third film and, unfortunately, it would be his last; he died from an overdose of sleeping pills mixed with alcohol the following year. Yet, based on the three films he left behind, the young director had a dark and uncompromising view of the world. In The She- Beast (1.
The Sorcerers (1. Witchfinder General, human nature is presented as something where good qualities are eventually overcome by man's innate evil. Of the three, however, Witchfinder General is the most accomplished and the one that justifies Reeves' cult status.
In it, Vincent Price gives what many people feel is his most focused dramatic performance - he is truly frightening. His broad, theatrical style and tendency toward self- parody is absent here due to Reeves' insistence on a quieter, more menacing mood. Reportedly, Price intensely disliked working with Reeves and making this film but even he admitted that the final result was impressive despite the methods Reeves used to achieve it. The Conqueror Worm also benefits from the stunning cinematography of Johnny Coquillon which juxtaposes the tranquil English countryside against the abominations being committed there. Adding another ironic touch is the lush, romantic music score by Paul Ferris (it was replaced with one by Lex Baxter in the American release) which suggests a period Western. Reeves, in fact, remarked during the filming that he saw The Conqueror Worm as a western in the style of a Budd Boetticher film. Like Randolph Scott's revenge obsessed protagonists of Ride Lonesome (1.
Comanche Station (1. Ian Ogilvy's Richard is on a similar mission but one which ends in a much bleaker resolution than any Boetticher western ever did. When American International Pictures, which had partially funded Reeves' film and insisted on the casting of Vincent Price, distributed it in the U. S. In most markets, it was paired with the co- feature, The Young, the Evil and the Savage, an Italian giallo directed by Antonio Margheriti, and relegated to the drive- in circuit and grind houses. As a result, it was barely reviewed by any prominent film critics and when it was, the verdict was overwhelmingly negative due to its overt violence and disturbing subject matter.
It wasn't until almost a decade later that The Conqueror Worm was reappraised and recognized as one of the most striking British films of the sixties. Heyward, Arnold Miller, Tony Tenser, Philip Waddilove. Director: Michael Reeves. Screenplay: Tom Baker, Louis M. Heyward, Michael Reeves, Edgar Allan Poe (poem), Ronald Bassett (novel)Cinematography: John Coquillon. Film Editing: Howard Lanning. Art Direction: Jim Morahan.
Music: Paul Ferris, Kendall Schmidt. Cast: Vincent Price (Matthew Hopkins), Ian Ogilvy (Richard Marshall), Rupert Davies (John Lowes), Hilary Heath (Sarah Lowes, as Hilary Dwyer), Robert Russell (John Stearne), Nicky Henson (Trooper Robert Swallow).
Heyward, who worked for Tenser, recalled . We were coming to the end of Vincent's contract and I was able to make a deal for less than $1.
The attractive thing about the picture ! He had no idea how to talk to actors. Reeves refused even to pay lip- service to his lead actor's misfortune, which caused Price more hurt to his pride than the horse did to his coccyx. The relationship between the two soured from that point, though the absence of bonhomie paradoxically extracted from Price one of his most assured performances. Price and the rest of the cast and crew were also subjected to cold and wintry weather for most of The Conqueror Worm's exterior filming. Reeves's brusque directing style didn't endear him to anyone and he would often bark at Price, .
Not moving head - not throwing voice. How many have you made? Diane Ogilvy, co- star Ian Ogilvy's wife at the time, recalled an incident that occurred as she was driving from the set after a day's filming. Seeing Price sitting dejectedly nearby, she offered to give him a lift. AIP pressured Reeves to add some sex and nudity to improve its box office chances in America. He reluctantly complied and filmed a nude lovemaking sequence with actress Hilary Dwyer and Ian Ogilvy. Reeves assured her that little would be revealed since he was shooting the scene with a dark blue filter.
When Dwyer saw the film, however, she was appalled - . It is certainly one of the most powerful scenes in the film and it was a grueling experience for Price who had to withstand the blows on a dank dungeon floor. It took Reeves more than 3. To add insult to injury, Price was later asked to re- dub his own voice to tone down his line readings.
Because the production schedule of The Conqueror Worm went overtime, Vincent Price was unable to make his previously planned cameo appearance in The Magic Christian (1. He also was unable to appear in The Crimson Cult (1. Boris Karloff and Barbara Steele. His part, that of J. D. Morley, the master of Craxted Lodge, Greymarsh, was played by Christopher Lee. British film censor John Trevelyan enforced edits of some of the more violent scenes in The Conqueror Worm despite Reeves's objections.
He reduced the number of 'pricks' inflicted on John Lowes (Rupert Davies) as Hopkins' assistant searched for signs of the Devil; he shortened the witch burning sequence so we didn't see the victim's head and body enter the flames; Hopkins' final death by ax mutilation was cut considerably despite the many hours Price had suffered during the filming of the scene. Even after these edits, the BCC reputedly refused to air The Conqueror Worm until additional cuts had been made.
After seeing The Conqueror Worm, Price wrote Reeves saying, ! The contrasts of the superb scenery, and the brutality, the action the hero forces against the inexorable, almost pedantic inaction of the forces of evil, make for a suspense I've rarely experienced. So, my dear Michael, in spite of the fact that we didn't get along too well, I do think you have a very fine picture, and what's more, I liked what you gave me to do! He also had a small role in the Elvis Presley film, The Trouble with Girls (1.
Edgar Allan Poe adaptation, The Oblong Box (1. At first Michael Reeves was slated to direct it but he died the month production began (another account states he was fired just prior to production) and was replaced by Gordon Hessler.
When Price heard the news about Reeves's death, he said, ! He was so talented and had such a bright future, but he was a deeply troubled young man. I realized only after I saw Conqueror Worm how talented he was. It was a great loss to the cinema. Had he been disciplined, he could have become a very good director.
Believe me, this profession takes enormous discipline. You're out there at six in the morning, and you're up until midnight and back at six the next morning. There's no fooling around if you want to last.
She was dunked in water until she confessed which resulted in 3. Chelmsford Assizes. He later traveled to Suffolk with his assistant John Stearne where he accused the local pastor, John Lowes, of witchcraft. The suspect was subsequently hanged. In Bassett's novel, Hopkins eventually meets his demise at the end of a rope but in real life he died of tuberculosis in 1. Manningtree, Essex.
Michael Reeves was only eight years old when he began telling friends he wanted to make movies. Writer Tom Baker recalls that he and Reeves began making movies as teenagers using an 8mm Bolex and a tea trolley for tracking shots. Reeves first met Ian Ogilvy at the age of fifteen when they were both classmates in high school. Together they made a 2. Carrion in which Ogilvy played a psychopath terrorizing a crippled girl. Ian Ogilvy would end up playing the lead in all three of Reeves's films - The She- Beast (1. The Sorcerers (1.
The Conqueror Worm. Before he turned twenty, Reeves and his mother inherited a family trust fund that enabled him to travel to America where he sought out his idol, director Don Siegel. He found out where Siegel was living in Hollywood, went to his front door, rang the bell and introduced himself. Siegel was impressed enough to get him an entry level job at a studio, running errands and attending to minor production details.