Witchfinder General (1968)

Witchfinder General (1968)

A young soldier seeks to put an end to the evils caused by a vicious witch-hunter when the latter terrorizes his fiancée and kills her uncle.
Director: Michael Reeves
Writers: Tom Baker (screenplay), Michael Reeves (screenplay), Louis M. Heyward (additional scenes)
Stars: Vincent Pric, eIan Ogilvy, Rupert Davies

Trivia
The real Matthew Hopkins was only in his mid 20s in 1645 and died before he was 30. Vincent Price's character is well into middle age, like the actor himself. Hopkins and Stearne executed more than 300 people, mainly women, during their two or three years of '"witch hunting". Considering that 500 people in total were executed for witchcraft in England between the late 15th and late 18th centuries, it means that Hopkins was responsible for two-thirds of these executions during a period of three years.

Goofs
The end titles conclude with the familiar, "All persons depicted... entirely fictional... any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is entirely coincidental" - and yet, not only was the title character a real person, but also the film features an appearance by Oliver Cromwell.

Quotes
Matthew Hopkins: Men sometimes have strange motives for the things they do.

Alternate versions
All British versions prior to 1996 were cut by 1 min 26 secs by the UK censor on original release. The Redemption Video release restores this material from a U.S laserdisc.

Connections
Featured in Nightwatch Presents Edgar Allan Poe: The Conqueror Worm (1973)