The Witchmaker – also released as The Legend of Witch Hollow and The Witchmaster – is a 1969 supernatural horror film written, produced and directed by William O. Brown. It stars Anthony Eisley (The Mighty Gorga; Dracula vs. Frankenstein), Thordis Brandt, Alvy Moore, John Lodge, Shelby Grany. The film was executive producer by actor L.Q Jones (The Brotherhood of Satan).
Plot teaser:
Deep in the Louisiana swamps, a psychic researcher and his student assistants investigate a series of murders of beautiful young women…
Reviews:
” … the plot is incredibly expansive and far more intriguing than what ends up on screen. Terribly tame for 1969, there’s just enough sexual subtext, goofy acting and a bravura performance from John Lodge to make these satanic shenanigans a fair late night offering of bayou devilry indulgence.” Cool Ass Cinema
“Apart from the pace there was nothing really wrong with it – the actors were mostly solid, it looked terrific, and the plot wasn’t too cliched, so I’m willing to put this in the “have to be in the right mood” category.” Horror Movie a Day
“An interesting film that straddles the line between classic horror and contemporary style and shocks, Witchmaker is a cool flick that makes you wish Brown had continued to work in the genre. It’s a film that seemingly works in spite of itself sometimes; our villains (especially Lodge) are sometimes stage-bound and hammy, while our heroes are often left to figure out stuff we already know; without the combined powers of Techniscope and Technicolor, it would have been quite drab.” Oh, the Horror!
“The plot contours are familiar to the point of exhaustion. The dialogue is uniformly clunky, and most of the acting is feeble enough that Anthony Eisley stands out like an actual movie star. The precocious 70’s-style shock ending is insufficiently justified, and there are a couple moments that are just unbelievably silly.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
Choice dialogue:
“I’m no philosophiser, I’m the guy that gets the fire wood”.
“Well know we know what we’re up against. And his name is Luther!”
Filming Locations:
Marksville, Louisiana, USA
