VIRGIN WITCH

If films depend on effective opening scenes to hook their audiences, then you can't fault the approach taken by Virgin Witch: no sooner are the opening credits rolling, than we're treated to a montage of naked flesh, psychedelia and a wonderfully-kitsch take on the occult. Sadly, the film can't quite maintain this sort of pace all the way through, but there's still plenty to enjoy in this fun example of 70s British high weirdness.

Two young sisters, Christine and Betty (played by Vicky Michelle - yes, infamously, her from 80s sitcom 'Allo 'Allo) have left home and are on their way to London to look for work. Under the watchful eye of Johnny (Keith Buckley) - a rather worrying love interest who could only have appeared in 70s cinema - the girls find a place to live, with Christine getting herself a job as a nude model (what else?) working for one Sybil Waite, head of one of the top modelling agencies in the country. No sooner is Christine hired and her vital statistics taken than a job crops up: she'll be travelling to a place called Wychwold for a weekend shoot. Betty decides to go along too - well, even in a place called Wychwold, she'll probably be safer than at home with 'busy-hands' Johnny…

Off they go to the village (which, of course, turns out to have an occult history) and the job seems to be going well. Christine spends a lot of time galloping around in the nude, or reclining on cars in the nude, or posing as Eve (sans fig leaf though) whilst Betty variously scares herself by sneaking into the manor house's fantastically camp occult grotto or by running scared from an increasingly-sizeable array of oddball characters, including a bewigged doctor whose bedside manner would get him struck off these days. When Betty mentions the grotto at dinner, the other guests admit that they're part of a coven. And, as it's Lammas Night, a virgin would be very handy for their rituals, thank you very much…

However, although Betty has her doubts about getting involved, Christine has other ideas. See, she's always had psychic powers, and decides that witchcraft might be just the thing to add to those powers. Defying the coven, she starts to take an interest in black magic and is very definitely out for Sybil's title of High Priestess…

This is a peculiar film - it feels somewhere between a Flake advert and Rosemary's Baby, with lots of soft-focus, Jess Franco style camera zoom and acres of nubile flesh vying for position with some of the finest zany magic rituals ever committed to celluloid. As far as sex goes, this was probably pretty strong stuff by the standards of the day, though the effect it had on me was of generating helpless laughter, especially where the good doctor is the one shedding his magical robes. Virgin Witch is quite light on plot: there are large lulls when very little happens, such as an excursion to a night club which pertains to bugger all, but there's enough here in the way of nostalgia and norks to keep audiences entertained. This whole film screams seventies: from the girls' eye makeup to the lighting, from the parlance of the day to the shortest skirts known to man. You can forgive the clunky editing and script, and the random ending, to bask in the whole frankly bizarre, very watchable experience.

It's interesting that Odeon's Best of British Collection have picked this one up (although I'd take issue with their claim that this is the first time Virgin Witch has appeared on DVD, as Redemption Films also offer this one and it was them who rediscovered the film in the 90s). In any case, this release looks very good. It's presented in 1.78:1 with a good quality print, suitably lurid colouration and good sound quality. This release comes with a booklet and some engaging sleeve-notes by author Simon Sheridan, including some comments from Ann Michelle on just why neither her nor Vicky list Virgin Witch on their CVs these days…

The DVD also contains a stills gallery and the original theatrical trailer, plus trailers from some other releases: Blood on Satan's Claw, Die Screaming Marianne, Dr Terror's House of Horrors, Frightmare, Secrets of Sex and The Asphyx. There are some genuine rarities here and getting them released in such a good quality format is definitely something to be supported.

Review by Keri O'Shea