MGM (via Fox) have released a new boxed set of Vincent Price horror film titles that represent some of his finest work from the 1960s and 1970s. Vincent Price: MGM Scream Legends Collection features seven major releases in the form of double bill DVDs. Most have been available previously, but its great to have them all available in a single boxed set.
The jewel in the crown is the first American DVD release of Witchfinder General. We reported previously that Fox had been inspired to make the investment in a special edition of this film after reading Dave Worrall's in-depth report on the making of the movie in Cinema Retro issue #5. Filmed in England in the late 1960s, the movie had all the hallmarks of a disaster in the making. The 23- year old director Michael Reeves barely spoke to Price, who was portraying the infamous real-life Witchfinder Matthew Hopkins, a 17th century kook who traveled from village to village threatening to convict innocent souls of witchcraft if they did not heed his demands for money and sex. Reeves envisioned Donald Pleasence in the role and feared Price would give an over-the-top campy performance. Things got even worse when Price fell from his horse on the first day of shooting and suffered minor injuries.
The story behind the making of the film is told on a fascinating new documentary included on the DVD. Additionally, producer Philip Waddilove and actor Ian Ogilvy provided a joint commentary track that sheds new light on this cult classic. Ironically, perhaps in his determination to prove Michael Reeves wrong, Price gave what is arguably the best performance of his career. Devoid of the hystronics that often accompanied his work in the Roger Corman films, Price is believable and chilling. Then again, Witchfinder General is not a horror film, though it's depiction of torture and executions are undeniable horrible. The sequences, which were somewhat groundbreaking in their time, still shock today. Price and Reeves ultimately found mutual respect. Price realized that the young director had inspired him to exert his creative juices for the first time in many years. Reeves came to the conclusion that he had greatly underestimated Price's dramatic talents. The two even planned to team again on The Oblong Box, but Reeves slid into a self-destructive pattern of drug and alcohol abuse that lead to his death a short time later, never having had his talents appreciated. Even the film's U.S. marketing campaign was botched, with an absurd opening narrative added by Price in which he reads from Edgar Allan Poe's The Conqueror Worm in an attempt to link this film to the previous Poe-inspired hits Price had done for Roger Corman. In fact, the film has nothing to do with Poe or his poem. It's like having someone read Shakespeare in the introduction to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World so it can be retitled As You Like It. The first VHS releases of the film in the USA were even more absurd. Copyright problems led to dropping composer Paul Ferris' brilliant score and replacing it by some hack humming away on a synthesizer.
This is the first time this superb film has been properly released in the USA. It should have a prominent place in the collections of all classic movie lovers.