Witchfinder General (1968)

"Witch Hunter General" delivers a drastic change in mood, the level of violence, and the kind of character that Vincent Price portrays compared to any of his earlier films. The innocent and campy effects are gone and have been replaced with scenes of torture and streaks of red paint that supposed to be blood. The film feels too adult and R rated for Vincent Price to be in but it was just the first of many that would showcase the esteemed actor in such a dark manner; I simply wasn't ready to see him as a lecherous, dirty old man who exchanges promises for sexual services. The film itself feels like it belongs on cable TV and shown during a midnight time slot.


Matthew Hopkins is the Witch Hunter General, dealing out his sense of justice from town to town by judging and executing those accused of witchcraft. He is assisted by John Stearne, a man who loves torture more than any man should. They cross paths with a young Roundhead named Richard Marshall while they are on their way to the interrogate Richard's fiance Sara and her uncle. Sara gives herself to Hopkins in order to stop her uncle's torture, but when Hopkins leaves for other business, Stearne kills the man and rapes Sara. When Richard Marshall finds out, he swears to kill Hopkins and Stearne, tracking them down as they continue to reap sexual favors and killing innocent people accused of being witches.

Matthew Hopkins, the Witch Hunter General

Hopkins and Stearne torturing Sara

Richard and Sara's wedding

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

On October 1^st, 1968, exactly 45 years ago, George A Romero forever changed the zombie genre and the popularity of zombie films with his classic “Night of the Living Dead”. From the famous “They’re going to get you Barbara” to shooting zombies in the head, Romero set the style and sensibilities for future zombie movies for the next several years. Romero also made a provocative choice by casting Duane Jones as the lead character, during a time period when African Americans were never cast as the hero in an ensemble full of Caucasians. Romero also made the same casting choice in his sequel “Dawn of the Dead” by casting Ken Foree as Peter, one of my all-time favorite characters in all of the horror movies I’ve seen. The story was co-written by John Russo and was at first a comedy/horror. But Romero made changes after being inspired by Richard Matheson’s classic “I Am Legend”. What would the world of horror be like without this film??

Spoilers!                                                              Spoilers!                                              Spoilers!

Barbara and her brother Johnny take a lengthy afternoon drive to visit their father’s grave. While they are there, Johnny begins to tease her sister because she doesn’t like graveyards, and while doing so a strange man comes up and attacks Johnny, killing him. The stranger chases Barbara to a secluded house where she finds a woman’s corpse inside. She runs out but comes across Ben, who takes her back inside and talks her down from her shock while boarding up the windows and doors. They discover that there are others in the house, hiding in the cellar. With their help, the survivors try to escape from the farmhouse with disastrous results. The zombies finally attack in masse and break through the barricades, trying to grab the survivors through the windows. Barbara meets a gruesome fate as she’s over taken by zombies when she notices that her brother Johnny is among them. Ben is the only one to survive the night, only to be mistaken for a zombie by a sheriff’s posse the next morning.

Ben defending the farmhouse.

Barbara running away from the first zombie in the graveyard.

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

"Rosemary's Baby" is the ultimate movie concerning cults in the horror genre, thank you very much. It has all the elements that you need - an old building in New York with a storied history, a dedicated cult whose leaders live next to Rosemary, a cult tempting enough to seduce and recruit Rosemary's husband, and the complete helplessness of Rosemary as her due date comes closer and closer. And she has sex with the Devil itself! “Rosemary’s Baby” is highly regarded among many film institutions and is often thought of as one of the better horror movies ever made. The director Roman Polanski co-wrote the script and tried his best to follow the contents of the book that was written by Ira Levin. I have read the book and I will agree that it is a very faithful adaption.

Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband Guy move into the Bramford, an apartment building with a dark history, in New York City. Guy is an actor who is trying to find his break into movies while Rosemary is a simple housewife. She meets a young woman named Terry one day while doing her laundry. Terry tells Rosemary how she is living with an older couple in the same floor as Rosemary and Guy. They promise each other that they will do their laundry together in the future but that doesn’t come to pass because later that night Terry kills herself by jumping out of a window. Guy and Rosemary meet the Castevets, the couple that Terry was living with.

The Castevets take an immediate liking of Rosemary and Guy and become a major influence on their lives. For example, on the night that Guy and Rosemary decide to try to conceive a child, Minnie Castevet brings over a chalky chocolate desert for them to eat. Rosemary hates it and hides the contents when Guy leaves the room. But later that night she is drugged and has vivid memories of seeing the Castevets and others standing around her naked and chanting, and then having sex with a hairy wild beast-man. She realizes and declares “This is no dream!” before passing out again. In the morning Guy claims that he had sex with her while she was passed out, which doesn’t sit well with her.

Soon, Rosemary finds out that she is pregnant and Guy and the Castevets become ecstatic. Minnie begins to come over unannounced with a friend and doesn’t leave Rosemary alone. She even gives Rosemary a charm filled with odd smelling herbs, the same charm that Terry had shown Rosemary the day that they met. Rosemary begins to suffer from stomach pains and losing weight instead of gaining which causes concern for her friend Hutch. He looks into the matter, including a closer look into the Castevets and the history of the Bramford. He discovers that Roman Castevet is really Stephen Marcato, the son of a resident who was a Satanist and was killed as a martyr. Rosemary eventually discovers this through a trail of clues that Hutch had left behind before he mysteriously fell into a coma and died. To her horror, she finds out that everyone surrounding her is a member of a Satanic Cult, including Guy who was seduced by the opportunities to further his acting career. Rosemary is trapped in her own personal Hell and ends up giving birth to the son of Satan. The movie ends when Roman convinces Rosemary that she doesn’t have to join their cult but that she should still be a loving mother to her child, which in the end is all she ever wanted to be.