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Released by: Image Entertainment/Redemption
Released on: 9/19/2006
Director: Ray Austin
Cast: Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle, Keith Buckley, Patricia Haines, James Chase
Year: 1972
The Movie:
Christine (Ann Michelle from Pete Walker's House Of Whipcord) and Betty (Vicki Michelle who played Yvette in the BBC's Allo Allo) are two sultry sisters who have just left home and made their way to the swinging London of the early 1970s. They hitch a ride into town with Johnny (Keith Buckley of Dr. Phibes Rises Again), a hip young man who puts the girls up at his pad in the city. Soon, the two girls figure they should find work and so off they go to look for jobs. Christine winds up taking a job at a modelling agency run by Sybil Waite (Patricia Haines who was married to Michael Caine and who shows up in The Night Caller) who is only too happy to bring her into her fold, in fact, she gives her a job that very weekend.
Christine brings Betty along as her chaperone and off the three ladies go into the country where they're going to do a photospread at an old home called Wytchwold owned by Dr. Gerald Amberly (Neil Hallett of Can You Keep It Up For A Week?) who just so happens to be a leading expert on witchcraft and a high priest himself. The girls soon find this out for themselves and, after Christine makes out with Peter (James Chase) the photographer, they initiate her into their coven by way of an arcane and very sexual ceremony wherein she's deflowered by the good doctor on an alter in front of a group of naked, writhing occultists. What they don't realize is that Christine is a natural at this sort of thing and she's got powers that are far beyond those that a new recruit should have. She's not happy when she finds out that Sybil has had unclean intentions for her all along, and we all know that Hell hath no furry like a woman scorned.
While it's easy enough to figure out where this one is heading very early on in the proceedings (pretty much from the time that Sybil has Christine disrobe for her in her office!) the film is still a fun ride thanks to a few interesting characters and a copiou amount of nudity courtesy of the real life Michelle sisters. Director Ray Austin, who has done most of his work in television on such shows as The Saint, Space: 1999 and Magnum P.I. uses every opportunity that Klaus Vogel's story allows to get the girls disrobed and the movie is all the better for it - they're both particularly easy on the eyes.
There is a bit more to the movie than simply fine, shapely T&A, however. Not much more, but a little bit at least. The scenes where the coven gathers outside for their ritualistic ceremonies have some nice, eerie atmosphere and the cinematography makes very good use of the English countryside and the ornate manor that much of the movie takes place in. The finale of the film is handled well, with an appropriate if predictable twist thrown in for fun. This isn't a great movie by any stretch but it's competantly made, full of nice scenery, and it's got some nice ambience - that makes it worth a look.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Redemption presents the film in its original 1.85.1 widescreen aspect ratio enhanced for anamorphic sets and for the most part things look pretty good on this DVD. The source material shows its limitations in that there's some softness to certain scenes and the colors are a little less bright than one might hope for but for the most part we're left with a pretty sharp very clean image.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono track doesn't fare as well as the video does, unfortunately. There are a few too many scenes where the dialogue is low in the mix or sounds too muffled which will result in having to turn the volume up to compensate for those scenes (and in turn, adjust the volume once again when the levels balance back out). Other than that, there isn't much to complain about in terms of hiss or distortion, but the fluctuations do make some of the dialogue a bit tough to follow in spots.
While this is hardly a super stacked special edition, Redemption has seen fit to include the film's original theatrical trailer and a still gallery of promotional stills that is set to music and plays out over a minute or so. Menus and chapter stops for the feature are also included.
The Final Word:
A moderately amusing and skin filled tale of the occult, Virgin Witch is far from a masterpiece but is an entertaining, if predictble, little slice of British sleaze that doesn't sound so hot but looks quite nice on this DVD.