Witchfinder general / Ian Cooper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cooper, Ian (Freelance writer), author.

Series:

Devil's advocates.

Liverpool scholarship online.

Devil's advocates

Liverpool scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Horror films.

Witchfinder general (Motion picture).

Hopkins, Matthew, -1647--In motion pictures.

Hopkins, Matthew.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (174 p.)

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2021.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

'Witchfinder General' (1968), known as 'The Conqueror Worm' in America, was directed by Michael Reeves and occupies a unique place in British cinema. Equally praised and vilified, the film fictionalizes the exploits of Matthew Hopkins, a prolific, real-life 'witch hunter', during the English Civil War. For critic Mark Kermode, the release proved to be 'the single most significant horror film produced in the United Kingdom in the 1960s', while playwright Alan Bennett called the work 'the most persistently sadistic and rotten film I've ever seen'. Steadily gaining a cult reputation, unimpeded by the director's death just months after the film's release, the film is now treated as a landmark, though problematic, accomplishment, as it exists in a number of recut, retitled, and rescored versions. This in-depth study positions the film within the history of horror and discusses its importance as a British and heritage film.

Contents:

Cover ; Series Page; Series List; Title Page; Acknowledgments; Copyright; Contents ; Introduction; 1. The Place of the Film; 2. Context, Production and Reception; 3. Analysis; 4. The Influence of the Film; Bibliography

Notes:

Previously issued in print: Leighton Buzzard: Auteur, 2011.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on January 13, 2021).

ISBN:

1-80085-010-7

1-80034-203-9

1-80034-685-9

1-906733-94-5