My experiences with Vincent Price films is almost next to none. All I got is his voice and likeness appearances on the Scooby Doo cartoons. I didn’t quite know what to expect when delving into the Odeon Entertainment’s Blu-ray edition of Witchfinder General. Something to the like of being light hearted and tame was my initial impressions before even watching the movie because I had this idea that Vincent Price was too family oriented and that the late 60’s wouldn’t allow much to be reveal as far as shock and vulgarity value goes. Boy, was I wrong…
As England is in distress due to a civil war amongst the Royalist and Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads, an unforeseen man rises to power exploiting village superstitions for his own gain in wealth and sexual prowess. Matthew Hopkins travels from village to village proclaiming those innocent to be witches and having them confess by brutally sadistic tortures in which there are no ways out. These tortures are carried out by his brute of an accomplice John Stearne. When Hopkins and Stearne kill a falsely prosecuted priest and repeatedly rape his niece, they invoke the vengeance of militant Richard Marshall who is engaged to the priest’s niece.
