Several horror films have explored the subject of the disbeliever coming into contact with that which they refute. Sidney Hayer's Burn, Witch, Burn! is one of the best of this particular sub-genre. Norman Taylor is a professor of psychology at a prestigious university who teaches skepticism and realism to his students. He discovers one day to his horror that his wife, Tansy, has been using black magic to help him advance his career. He confronts her and burns all of her magical talismans. He accidentally also burns a picture of himself, dooming him to become a plaything of the forces of evil. Suddenly, a female student accuses him of rape, a male student threatens to shoot him, and his chances of being promoted seem destroyed. To save himself, and his wife, he finds that he must use the same black magic that he rallied against earlier in the film. Many of these films take the route of creating doubt as to whether or not the magic is real and everything that occurs is a coincidence. Burn, Witch, Burn! has no such ambition. The very first scene has an invisible narrator casting a spell of protection over the audience against a black screen. By establishing the existence of black magic, Burn, Witch, Burn! becomes a piece of high camp instead of a taut psychological thriller. But I prefer it that way. There are enough movies that try to establish doubt. It's refreshing to see a film that believes so powerfully in that which other films disdain.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment