The Witch Who Came From the Sea
| The Witch Who Came From the Sea | |
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| Directed by | Matt Cimber |
| Produced by | Jefferson Richard |
| Written by | Story: Robert Thom |
| Starring | Millie Perkins Lonny Chapman Vanessa Brown Peggy Feury Jean Pierre Camps Mark Livingston Rick Jason |
| Music by | Herschel Burke Gilbert |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Distributed by | Cinefear/Moonstone Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | February 1976 |
| Running time | 88 minutes (UK uncut version) 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Molly really knows how to cut men down to size!! |
| — Tagline of the film. |
The Witch Who Came From the Sea is a 1976 American horror film directed by Matt Cimber and shot by cinematographer Dean Cundey. The film concerns a dysfunctional and disturbed woman called Molly (played by Millie Perkins) who, after suffering repeated sexual abuse at the hands of her alcoholic father, embarks on a spree of gruesome sexual encounters with men who she meets during her job as a waitress in a seaside bar.
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[edit] Censorship
For its scenes of extreme sexual violence the film was banned in several countries around the world.[citation needed] In 1983, the United Kingdom Department of Public Prosecutions compiled a list of 74 video releases that were not brought before the BBFC for certification and declared them prosecutable for obscenity. This list of "video nasties" included The Witch Who Came From the Sea, which was successfully prosecuted and banned.[citation needed] In the United Kingdom, the film was only finally released completely uncut in 2006.[1]
[edit] Reception
The Witch Who Came From the Sea has been recommended by film critic Mark Kermode as one of the best video nasties of the era.[2] One critic viewed the film as not being a horror film but actually representing a scathing indictment of child sexual abuse as well as a study of a troubled woman's descent into madness; "a study of a woman whose sanity teeters on the edge".[3] Another completely dismissed the film as representing nothing more than "an absurd story with no redeeming qualities. Highly recommended for lovers of bad cinema".[4]
The 2004 DVD release of the film (whose 16:9 transfer was overseen and approved by Dean Cundey[citation needed]) sparked renewed interest,[citation needed] with one reviewer remarking that The Witch Who Came From the Sea is "an unsung psychological gem" among 1970s exploitation films.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "The Witch Who Came from the Sea". BBFC. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/CVV076405/. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
- ^ Kermode was speaking during an interview with Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 5 on 12 June 2009]
- ^ Online review of 2004 DVD release of the film
- ^ 2004 film review by Christopher Null at Filmcritic.com
- ^ THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA (1976) Director: Matt Cimber Subversive Cinema (Casey Scott review)
