Hammer House Of Horror Season 1 Episode 1 Witching Time
Hammer Film Productions had become the kings of horror with their Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing movies reviving classic monsters like Dracula and the Mummy. By 1980 though, times had changed and a different kind of horror movie had taken over the movie theaters. But Hammer wasn't quite yet done. Hammer House of Horror debuted on September 13, 1980 on Britain's ITV with the episode Witching Time. The episode starred Jon Finch (Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy, The Martian Chronicles, The Horror of Frankenstein), Patricia Quinn (The Lords of Salem, Dr. Who, The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Prunella Gee (Never Say Never Again), and Ian McCulloch (Dr. Who, Moonlighting, Zombie Holocaust).

Lucinda has vanished when Charles arrives, but David makes it known that he knows his wife is cheating on him but doesn't reveal that he knows it is with Charles. After Charles leaves Lucinda seduces David, and begins a campaign of terror against Mary when she comes home at Charles' request. At first Mary thinks David has gone off the deep end, but soon sees evidence for herself that the witch is more than a figment of his imagination. She is hospitalized after Lucinda spooks her horse, and after getting home from the hospital finds that the reason she isn't getting better is that Lucinda has made a voodoo doll of her.

The story is actually pretty good, and the acting is phenomenal, but the episode does look a little cheap. Still, it's a good story. If anything it's hurt by being compressed into an hour timeslot. It feels like there are certain elements that didn't get expanded as fully as they could have. But it's still a pretty solid hour of entertainment in a genre that normally doesn't fare that well in a television format.
Comments
Post a Comment