BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Woodyanders Brash young Christine (a deliciously saucy performance by the comely Ann Michelle) and her sweet innocent sister Betty (a winningly perky portrayal by equally fetching Vicki Michelle) are invited to a swanky palatial mansion in the country by lascivious lesbian Sybil Waite (a perfectly snippy turn by Patricia Haines) for a fashion modeling shoot. Unbeknownst to the girls, the place is really a front for a diabolical coven of witches. Director Ray Austin and screenwriter Beryl Vertue concoct a compellingly naughty and racy little outing that manages the remarkable feat of showing decadence and sexual perversity in a surprisingly tasteful and fairly restrained manner that never degenerates into outright crudely leering sleaze. Austin and Vertue also do a credible job of astutely capturing the wickedly enticing allure of the black arts. Fortunately, there's a pleasingly plentiful amount of tasty female nudity (the Michelle siblings look positively smashing in their birthday suits) and the hot basement orgy rituals are suitably wild and uninhibited with dancing nude people, crazed chanting, pounding music, and virgins being deflowered. Moreover, Christine's conversion into the cult as a high priestess is genuinely chilling and leads to a truly dark and upsetting conclusion. The capable acting from the sturdy cast rates as another major asset: The Michelle sisters make for attractive and appealing leads, Haines portrays her haughty character with lip-smacking snooty aplomb, plus there are fine supporting contributions by Keith Buckley as Betty's concerned boyfriend Johnny, Neil Hallett as kindly physician cult leader Gerald Amberly, James Chase as lecherous photographer Peter, and Paula Wright as creepy housekeeper Ms. Wright. Gerald Moss' lush and bright color cinematography makes the most out of the beautifully verdant English countryside scenery and boasts several nifty fades and dissolves. Ted Dicks' shivery score likewise hits the shuddery spot. Good bawdy fun.

gavcrimson Warning: spoilersVirgin Witch hails from an era when witchcraft was depicted as a new novelty in the world of swinging suburbia. The topic had already spawned several sex paperbacks sold from the back pages of Continental Film Review. Filmmakers were also quick to get in on the act, the enigmatic Malcolm Leigh directed the documentary The Legend of the Witches (1969) while Wife Swappers auteur Derek Ford helmed Secret Rites (1971) a 47 minute featurette on 'witch king' Alex Sanders. If the still sets are anything to go by the two reoccurring themes in the Ford film are bald men in face make-up and female pubic hair. This sub-genre also got its own magazine in Witchcraft,the 'monthly chronicle of Horror,Satanism and the Occult'. Witchcraft was a mixture of surprisingly literate articles on vampires and witch hunting alongside pictorials of recognisable sexploitation actresses posed in satanic tableau. One article 'Initiation into an Essex Coven' features shots of swingers with blacks bars over their eyes to protect their identity and drawn on Y-fronts to protect their modesty. Virgin Witch replays the contents of an issue of Witchcraft within a traditional horror film narrative. It's an early 'Elton Hawke' production;Hawke was the appropriately occult-sounding pseudonym of Crossroads creator Hazel Adair and wrestling commentator Kent Walton.'Made on location in Surrey, England' the film features Vicki and Ann Michelle as two girls fresh from the provinces looking to break into modelling. Despite warnings to avoid 'backstreet photographers',Ann goes to a casting call in which she's required to go nude for the head of an advertising agency. In a gender twist the person in question isn't some salivating bloke,but Sybil Waite a stern and intimidating middle aged lesbian. Using her position of power to prey on young models,Sybil insists on taking Ann's measurements all the while trying and failing to feign apathy with statements like 'just for the record'. As a reward for playing along with the scenario Ann gets a modelling gig shooting a cider advert at a country house,Vicki tags along too. The ad involves Ann sprawled naked over a car. Peter a sexually desperate looking photographer with a comb over snaps away trying to get the right shot. And there's not a drop of cider in sight..funny old game advertising. Sybil,who goes through the film with fixed scowl on her face,reminds Peter of his low end of the pecking order status within the household. If anyone's getting their hands on the sisters during the weekend it's either her or the house's owner Dr Gerald Amberley 'an authority' on the subject of witchcraft played by the extremely likeable Neil Hallett. The inquisitive sisters eventually discover Gerald,Sybil and Peter are all part of a witch's coven in which Gerald is the chief white witch. Over dinner Gerald reassures the girls that the coven only use their powers for good,dropping swinger expressions like 'friendship' and 'give pleasure' as other attributes to his lifestyle. Ann wants in on the sexy scene. As Gerald, Hallett is the epitome of the charming,non-threatening English gent with a raised eyebrow for the ladies. While Gerald is seemingly serious with regards to his lifestyle and religious beliefs you suspect stripping off and 'initiating' giggling virgins into the coven by having sex with them on altars have great appeal for the old fox as well.A fairly mellow horror film (compare and contrast to Satan's Slave shot several years later on the same country estate),Virgin Witch's intensions aren't far removed from that of the Hallett character. It has a shamelessly leery fixation on its lead actresses and is perfectly in touch with the Dirty Mac sensibility. The Michelle sisters spend most of the film in a state of undress or in a state of just about to get undressed. In rare occurrences when they are allocated a costume,it includes some of the shortest skirts in cinema history. Ann's considerable coolness in handling advances from both genders means she's much more than a mere sex object though. The need for a dramatic plot thread sees upstart Ann trying to knock Sybil off her position of power within the coven. Ann has hither to unsuspected psychic powers and uses them to naturally defend younger sibling Vicki against creepy men and give Sybil a taste of her own medicine. The film subscribes to the wishful fantasy of young vulnerable girls eventually gaining the upper hand over sexual predatorily casting agent types. It all ends with a psychic showdown between Ann and Sybil amidst the rest of the coven madly shagging away in the bushes. Virgin Witch was directed by Ray Austin,a former bit part actor of 'bruiser' appearance,who had helmed episodes of The Saint and Randall and Hopkirk Deceased. He approaches Virgin Witch very much like a horny ITC episode. His talent lay in creating atmosphere whether it's the hero's bright red sports car thundering down dark country roads,a blues music interlude,or the psychedelic flavoured orgies. Austin also shows a flare for offbeat compositions such as a scene framed by a milk float. Very much directed from a heterosexual male perspective the film views lesbianism as somewhat abhorrent,yet hilariously at the same time has no hang ups with regards to young girls embracing the occult. Ann reacts to the news that she's been accepted into the coven with all the hop, skip and a jump of a brownie who has just received her first badge. `Now I'm a witch, now I can please myself',she tells a male acquaintance. The film was the first in the 'Elton Hawke trilogy' of Virgin Witch,Can You Keep It Up For a Week and Keep It Up Downstairs,three films loosely linked and greatly benefited by Neil Hallett's reoccurring performances as the genre's most suave and charismatic swinger. In turn the film also kick started Ann Michelle's mini British horror film career,still a working actress she leaves Virgin Witch off her CV these days and refers to the film as an experience she doesn't care to remember.

LewisJForce This is a nice piece of time-wasting British exploitation cinema with the delectable Michelle sisters becoming embroiled in witchcraft and various sexy shenanigans in a picturesque country-house setting ('filmed on location in Surrey, England').There's a good score by Ted Dicks, including a rather seductive little tune called 'You go your way', performed by Helen Downing. And effective turns by old-hands like Neil Hallett (as the lecherous head of the coven) and Keith 'Excalibur' Buckley as the excitable investigative boyfriend. A highpoint is the scene-stealing performance by the lovely Patricia Haines ('The Night Caller') as the lesbian boss of a dodgy model agency. She, along with the sisters, disrobes in the hilarious 'initiation ritual' sequence.Get hold of the 1993 Redempton VHS - a good, colourful print.

lthseldy1 I expected alot more from this film, I thought it was going to be more into lesbian witchcraft or something weird like that with all the shocking suspense that most 70's films give us. This film was about two young girls that go out and look for a job and one of them finds a job modeling for a lesbian agent. The agent takes her on her first job as a model at a resort home that is run by a group of witches. One of them a perverted old man, another one is a lady that looks like a man but dressed as a woman that comes up creeping on the young girls from time to time, another is a geeky photographer trying to loose his virginity and another one is a man that wants to get the virgin first before the cult does. The agent falls in love with one of the girls and the only lesbian scenes in this movie are two in which she looks at the girl in a mirror as she undresses and the other is when she kisses her. the girl does not care for the agent because lesbianism isen't her style and therefore sets her goals in taking the agents place as high priestess in the cult. the two of them end up using powers against eachother for the title. This movie was slow and unmoving. This was hyped up to be about some lady that is the head of a cult and was supposed to be a sadist or something. It wasen't what it was supposed to be about and therefor I found it disapointing.