FilmJuiceSTUDIOCANAL in association with HAMMER FILMS present
THE WITCHES
New restoration premiering at the 57th BFI London Film Festival October 11th
Screenplay by Nigel Kneale
Based on the novel The Devil’s Own by Peter Curtis Directed by Cyril Frankel
Starring Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh and Alec McCowen
Available on DVD/Blu-ray double play October 21st, 2013
Following the releases of the fully restored Hammer classics, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, THE MUMMY’S SHROUD and RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK last year, STUDIOCANAL are delighted to announce the release of THE WITCHES fully restored just in time for Halloween! This new restoration will have 2 screenings at the 57th BFI London Film Festival on October 11th and 16th, and will be out on DVD/Blu-ray Double play on October 21st.
Originally released in 1966, THE WITCHES is an unforgettably chilling pastoral horror from legendary British production company HAMMER. Adapted for the screen by Nigel Kneale (The Quatermass Experiment) it also stars Joan Fontaine (Rebecca, Suspicion) in her last major film role.
Gwen Mayfield, an English schoolteacher working as a missionary in Africa, suddenly finds herself being victimised by a tribe of local witch doctors. Exposed to the deadly powers of the occult she is left deeply traumatised. In an effort to recover Gwen takes up a position in a rural school within the British countryside. But the idyllic village surroundings become increasingly sinister as Gwen begins to uncover a nightmarish web of dark and satanic secrets.
