A
young girl is killed, strung up, marked with weird symbols (in blood, of
course), and drained of her blood in the swamp.
She’s just one of eight girls who’ve been killed over the past two
years. Anthony Eisley is a journalist
who follows a team of psychics into the swamp to see if they can find the
killer. The culprit is Luther the
Berserk (John Lodge), who is in league with a witch (Warrene Ott) who’s
plotting to make herself young again.
They also want to control the body of the beautiful young “sensitive” psychic
(Thordis Brandt) and force her to pledge allegiance to their dark lord.
The
Legend of Witch Hollow is amusing in that it shows so much skin, but never
quite pushes the envelope into out and out nudity. I have never seen so many bare backs, cleavage,
and legs, and no actual nipples, bushes, or butt cracks. It even resorts to using some Austin Powers-type
of tricks to cover the nudity, which is simultaneously funny and frustrating.
Some
parts might remind you of Jess Franco making an Al Adamson movie (or vice versa),
but other parts have their own unique charm about them. There’s some genuine atmosphere here, like
when Luther calls upon the witch, the scene where the professor holds a seance,
and the various midnight strolls by girls wearing flimsy lingerie as walk through
the misty moonlit swamp. I also like the
unintentionally funny running gag of the professor being forced to bury the
bodies of his dead students.
It
sits on its hands a bit too long in the middle section, but occasionally it
springs to life. The finale is particularly
memorable. It’s the only movie I can
think of that ends with a raucous Satanist feast, whipping, blood drinking, a
sorcerer shooting fireballs from his fingertips, a chase through a swamp, and a
naked woman drowning in quicksand. The thrills
in the rest of the picture are much too fitful and intermittent to qualify this
as “good”. On the other hand, I’m certainly
glad I saw it, even if it didn’t exactly cast a spell on me.
Producers
Alvy Moore and L.Q. Jones later made A Boy and His Dog together.
AKA: The Witchmaker. AKA:
The Naked Witch. AKA: Witchkill.
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