Thursday, April 19, 2012

Burn Witch Burn - 1960's British Horror



From the list that Tom posted, I watched “Burn Witch Burn” (1962). It was adapted from the novel Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber (1910-1992). Leiber was an American writer, but this movie is British and adapted by Charles Beaumont. The story has actually been made into three movies. Referring to the novel, according to Wikipedia, “the premise is that witchcraft flourishes as an open secret among women. The story is told from the point of view of a small-town college professor who discovers his wife is a witch.” The “open secret” is referred to as “women’s intuition” in the movie. It was interesting to see how this “secret” played out on screen between the two main women characters. The problem is that the husband, the professor, teaches a class in psychology dealing with the mysticism of witchcraft – he’s not a believer. Ultimately, the husband gets caught between his wife (witch one), who loves him and wants him to achieve success at his college, and another professor (witch two), who wants him gone from the campus where they both teach. The scene stealer is when a giant bird comes to life from stone. The leash is completely visible, but that’s okay because it really is scary seeing this giant bird stalking and flying after our dear professor (who is the only man I have ever seen from the sixties who makes high-waisted pants look semi-fashionable).
Leiber is an interesting character himself. He was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and Jung. His most famous creation is the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories. They are about “sword and sorcery (a term coined by Leiber) (http://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=17797). After his son died at a young age, Leiber divorced, became a sometimes alcoholic, and lived in conditions that some people thought were close to squalor in San Francisco. But since the creators of Dungeons and Dragons licensed the “mythos” of his characters Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, he probably lived just fine.
The website listed below is a fun one that lists all sorts of horror movies (including "Burn Witch Burn"). It is called Kindertrauma.

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