Virgin Witch (1972)

dir. Ray Autin cast Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle, Keith Buckley, Patricia Haines, James Chase, Paula Wright

Christine and Betty (Ann and Vicki Michelle), two 20-ish miniskirted sisters, are alone in London after leaving a repressive home life under the control of their strict father. Christine goes to see Sybil Waite (Haines), one of London's top modelling agents, and seems to be in luck when a last-minute job opens up and all the other models are booked. She agrees to go with Sybil to a remote manor out in the English countryside for the weekend while Betty tags along. However, all is not as it seems; Sybil is part of a coven of witches that may have designs on both sisters. You may think you know where this is going, but things take a very unexpected turn which I will not reveal.

An erotic horror fantasy, with the emphasis definitely on sex rather than blood, Virgin Witch demonstrates why British low-budget horror films were often so much more entertaining than their American counterparts. For one thing, the availability of old estates on which to film gave even the cheapest films a professional look and made it possible to create a creepy atmosphere without a ton of money to spend. The old house in Virgin Witch, hemmed in by a thick forest, seems lonely and sinister and does lend a hint of grim foreboding to the proceedings. Also, the acting in low-budget British films was usually superior to the acting in American B films. There is no one on the level of a Peter Cushing or Barbara Steele in this film, but all the main cast members are perfectly accomplished. The acting does not get in the way of the story.

Virgin Witch is actually more of a sex film than a horror film. It is literally bloodless, with a very low body count. The witches actually don't seem all that evil; their rituals don't invoke Satan or use Satanic trappings and they don't seem to have any kind of agenda that involves bothering anyone outside their coven. In fact, their rituals seem to mostly involve their leader having sex with a willing young (but not underage) woman on an altar, while the other members of the coven dance around naked.

There is a lot of nudity in this film. Both Michelle sisters are astonishingly gorgeous, and both, especially Ann, have abundant nude scenes. In fact, Ann's naked torso is the first thing seen in the film, backgrounding the title. It seems that Christine is being set up to be the victim throughout much of the film, but she never loses her confident demeanor and we always get the feeling she's not as helpless as she seems. Its a good performance and she's fun to watch, even when she's not nude.

Phil Hardy's Encyclopedia of Horror Movies, compares Virgin Witch favorably to Hammer's Karnstein films. I agree that it's better than the silly Lust for a Vampire, but not as good as The Vampire Lovers. In the end, Virgin Witch is light on horror content, even when compared to other non-gory horrors such as Let's Scare Jessica to Death. Most of the horror is in the coven's rituals (which, for some reason, involve the demonic mask from the Japanese film Onibaba!), but they are not violent or terribly frightening.  Virgin Witch is not some kind of landmark of low-budget horror film making, but it's still well-made enough to be worth seeing.