Legend of the Witches Movie Review!
1970s England was awash with bloody witches and warlocks. You couldn’t move in a corner shop without bumping into loads of them. Paganism, Satanism, Wicca, and Americans thought they had it bad with Anton LaVey and his gang hanging around the neighbourhoods looking sinister, but bleedin’ hell, Blighty must have had millions of the wart nosed buggers. That’s the feeling you get from the films and documentaries of the era.
Actor George Sanders had a nice narrating go at the subject in a documentary which features on the extras for Something Weird Video’s Satanis (see review here) so this time round there’s another type of Sanders involved – Alex Sanders who was (much to the annoyance of many sects) dubbed The King of the Witches. He practised Wicca as a healer to be exact after a brief fling with Black Magic for which he admitted was for selfish reasons only.
Guy Standeven narrates the “Witches legend of creation” as Legend of the Witches opens to a moody sombre view of dawn in this black and white documentary by Malcolm (Lady Chatterly Vs Fanny Hill) Leigh. Guy has a news readers voice circa the WW2 era, and is annoying with his nose in the air, eyes staring at you over his glasses kind of way. I mean, you don’t see him but that’s the image in your head. To be fair on the old chap, he had a prolific and seemingly endless career, appearing in over 300 films and TV series, standard being uncredited in background player roles.
Straight into a few shots of Stone Henge and we are with some naked people dancing ‘round a burning fire, like a more explicit version of Haxan. The ceremony we witness is called, “drawing down of the moon” as Guy explains.
A skinny young lad is blindfolded, thus preparing him for “the ordeals he must face” before becoming a witch. I suppose something like a biker prospect has to endure. “His name is called and he must follow, no matter where he has to go or what he is asked to do.” Michael staggers bewildered in the dark for a moment. “This voice is to serve as his guide and, though he does not know it yet, to protect him from death.” After about six-minutes of straddling rocks in the nude and having a gormless expression, Michael is lead back to the gang by the fire where Alex Sanders is present and waiting to tie him up. “Before he is given any secrets,” drools Guy, “The initiate is bound as he is to keep those secrets.” then he’s symbolically whipped so he understands the discipline of the “cult.”
Onwards we continue as Guy takes us through Christianity. It has comparisons to our subject matter, and to be honest, it is (if rather dated more because of the music) quite informative to a rookie viewer or even someone with knowledge. He then moves into a graphic and extremely detailed account of the torture given to a pregnant woman who was accused of witchcraft; from burning to continually being dropped then beaten throughout the first day, “all in the name of Christ…” As Guy points out, this fate befell many because they simply believed in something other than Christianity.
The film then shows at length various rituals accompanied by really loud dramatic music of course, followed by a wonderful excursion over and across various items and objects relating to history and the craft. After another ritual, Guy goes into how rhythms play a huge part in magick, the dance of the flames, the pools of water, and how they can be hypnotic, putting folks into a trance. The query raised by the writer is this: is it all in the mind?
Legend of the Witches is a pure staple of its time, refusing to age well, but it’s nice to see such a time capsule. Some of it is trippy and psychedelic aiming at one particular crowd of viewers. Let’s also put on record the endless nude men and women, some a bit out of shape and maybe looked back at this ten years afterwards only to cringe in horror. Alex and his followers get a major share of screen time, but in-depth interviews would have been a welcome addition to the documentary.
Legend of the Witches is worth seeking out for a mix of education and giggles. Poor Michael really gets put through the paces by the way, and some of the girls appear to be really fed up hanging around.
For collectors of obscure Something Weird Video kinds of stuff and those with an interest in witchcraft to see if things have moved with the times, or if this is still the correct methods of practice.
Directed by: Malcolm Leigh | Written by: Malcolm Leigh | Produced by: Olive Negus-Fancey | Cinematography by: Robert Webb | Editing by: Judith Smith | Cast: Alex Sanders, Guy Standeven (Narrator), Maxine Sanders | Year: 1970 | Country: UK | Language: English | Colour: Black & Whire | Runtime: 1h 12min
