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Released by: Kino Lorber/Redemption Films
Released on: 3/13/2012
Director: Ray Austin
Cast: Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle, Patricia Haines, Keith Buckley, James Chase
Year: 1972
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The Movie:
Anne Michelle (House of Whipcord) and Vicki Michelle (television's 'Allo 'Allo!) play a set of sisters (and are sisters in real life) who end up going to a mansion for the weekend so that Christine (Ann) can be the subject of a photo shoot. The modeling gig came about after Christine was in the right place at the right time while being “interviewed†by the sultry lesbian agency owner Sybil (Patricia Haines). Sybil digs Christine, as is made blatantly obvious when Sybil makes her strip down so she can takes some measurements. She fakes a phone call from a client looking for someone last minute to do a weekend shoot, knowing the hungry-for-work young lady will accept the job. This is Christine's chance at the big time and she greedily accepts.
Rather quickly, Christine and Betty figure out the mansion is actually the headquarters for a witch's coven, with Sybil as the high priestess, and Christine wants in. Once she becomes a witch through some cockamamie ritual, she quickly becomes interested in the black magic side of witchcraft, something the high priest says they don't mess with (even though he has a book readily available for Christine to steal). Once that gets going, the high priestess starts to suspect something is up, but Christine is three steps ahead of her with her diabolical plan involving some bad juju.
Filmed at a location that, like so many other European movies, delivers a nice gothic flavor to the story. Combine that with the fashions and styles of the early 1970s and you've got a visual look that is very satisfying. The movie chugs along at an okay pace and the sisters are foxy as hell, as is Patricia Haines (who would unfortunately die of lung cancer about five years after the movie was made). The nudity factor is way high on this one, with just about every cast member getting naked for the rituals and for whatever other reasons, and there are some you might not want to see naked. But hey, it's nudity and that gets big points for the movie.
Where the film is great on the visual side, the story itself is kind of ho-hum, and a bit disjointed. Once the story is over, you may find yourself wondering what just happened and why, and the movie doesn't seem to do a very effective job and making a lot of sense, especially at the end. How is it Christine is so quickly knowledgeable about witchcraft and the black arts? Maybe something got lost in the translation, even though it's an English language film. At times the accents and the frequently low volume dialogue makes it easy to miss something important, and unfortunately there are no subtitles available.
Virgin Witch has all the elements to be a solid exploitation picture: occultism, lesbianism, sleaze, sex, and tons of nudity. What it's missing is anything real memorable. Nothing happens to give us that kick in the nuts, or the gross-out factor, or some element of absurdity. It's not particularly creepy and not at all scary. It's simply an enjoyable enough watch that may deserve a couple of viewings over a lifetime, but nothing you'll probably talk about with your movie-geek friends.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Kino/Redemption do a nice job with the film's high-definition 1080p debut, presenting it in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Although there is plenty of noticeable print damage, mainly white flecks, the movie looks really nice here. The colors look good and do the blacks levels and skin tones. The detail is decent and there doesn't appear to be any edge enhancement or DNR applied. Missing is any problems with artifacts (at least as seen by these eyes) or any other authoring issues. It looks good and delivers a satisfying image.
Sound-wise, one track is available, which is a 2.0 Dolby track. Aside from a few pops here and there, no doubt from the print used, it sounds fine. No real issues to mention. The balance seems correct, although as mentioned before, some of the dialogue seems too quiet. Most probably that is due to the print and not the transfer. It does its job fine. The only extras are a trailer for the feature and a useless photo gallery, plus trailers Jean Rollin Blu-rays recently released by the label. One little piece to mention is the awesome painted artwork on the cover.
The Final Word:
Not the be-all-end-all of English horror, Virgin Witch has some great elements to it, mainly in the eye candy department. Overall it's pretty forgettable, but worth checking out if for no other reason that to ogle at naked witches. Sadly there's nothing for new for supplemental material, but the video presentation makes it well worth the upgrade if you're on the fence about it.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
