Witchfinder General (1968)
Witchfinder General (1968)
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 ...
A disturbing tale of evil set during the English Civil War. When Matthew Hopkins is appointed Witchfinder General by the Puritans under Cromwell, he is empowered to travel the countryside with his henchmen and collect a fee for each witch from whom he extracts a confession - a policy which is exploited to the full.
The first in the triumvirate of Folk Horror films that would help define the genre. The other two are: The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) and The Wicker Man (1973).