Jesus Franco (as Jess Franco)
1970
89mins
Christopher lee takes up the role of the witchfinder in this rip off of the far superior 1968 "Witchfinder General" and although this film is still excellent, the original was such a classic that this one was never going to hold a candle to it. Lee is a judge with too much power, who lives in a war swept time where life seems to be very cheap,and no one can be trusted. He cruely hands down death sentences on the innocent but never see's the horror of them being carried out, not that is untill the brilliant ending where the realisation of his actions finally hit him. Nasty torture is used to gain confessions, burnings and hangings are all shown in horrific detail. Lee never really comes accross as trully evil, just ignorant of the horror of his actions.
This is another film with different edits made for different regions. This new DVD release by Salvation states that it is uncut, and indeed it is, but inspecting the photos on the disc show scenes of nudity not included in this version but available elsewhere, the most probable answer to this is that the other versions were missing more importent scenes included in this version, otherwise it may have been because of fear of cuts being made to the alternative version. Whichever it is it makes little impact other than to confuse the viewer.
This is well worth checking out but get "Witchfinder General " first.
Extras
Theatrical Trailer
Stills Gallery
Posters
Advertising Materials
Video Art