NECROMANCY (1972)

[purplepines]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JOlJjflbMk

I haven't seen the film, but I like the music and I'm intrigued by the subject matter

[tony]

Has anyone seen this film?
???

[Le Chiffre]

I've got the R-rated version, known as THE WITCHING on VHS. It's not a very good film.

[Terry]

That's the one I've got, the recut version from the 80s with what may as well be John Carpenter music. Haven't seen the original, though I doubt it was any better.

[tony]

"It's not a very good film."

Possible understatement?
???

[Le Chiffre]

Yes, to be honest, it's an amateurish mess that looks like it was thrown together by hippies during a weekend pot party (Hmmm, maybe they were rejects from the TOSOTW crew!). Like Store Hadji, I haven't seen the PG cut, but I can't say I have much desire to; it probably doesn't have Pamela Franklin's nude scenes which are about the only good thing about it. But that may be overstatement.

I think it's likely that NECROMANCY was Welles's half-hearted attempt to muscle in on Vincent Price/Christopher Lee territory. Obviously it didn't work.

[tony]

My guess is that it paid for one day's shooting on TOSOTW or F For Fake. :;):

[ToddBaesen]

I've always remembered a memorable night of Orson Welles guest hosting Johnny Carson when he had Vincent Price as his guest, around 1979. Orson opened the show by doing an incredibly complicated card trick, brought people out from the audience and it was really fascinating just to watch him go about conducting this elaborate trick... but then, as Vincent Price said when he came on, "Orson, you laid the biggest egg I've ever seen..." The cards he was supposed to guess didn't match!

Anyway, Orson introduced Vincent as an old friend who was a big star on the stage (with Helen Hayes) before he came to us at the Mercury Theater, and as I recall said something like, "Vincent you do horror movies and I do horrible ones..."

[tony]

Todd:
I saw that same show: it was fabulous when the card trick didn't work! Do you recall Price saying he had a photo of his dad holding a pic of Orson's dad's head on a plate? Some photo trick of a John the baptist thing when they were young amateur actors. Welles was freaked out to hear this. Also, Terry Garr was sitting between them (she was the next guest after Price, who shuffled over to the couch) and she was complaining about having to do so many cheap beach blanket bingo type films when she was starting out; that's when Price said "Don't worry: I've had to do a lot of horror pictures in my career" and Welles said "And I've had to do a lot of horrible pictures!".

It was a great night; I hope somehow it gets a release on dvd...

[Le Chiffre]

I seem to remember someone here saying that they had a VHS recording of it. If so, I've got lots of obscure Welles stuff I could exchange for a copy of it. That should definitely be in circulation.

[maxrael]

i personally liked The Witching... it's a perfectly presentable low-budget horror and Welles is decent enough in it.

i sampled some of the dialogue from it for an electronic music project once.

[Harvey Chartrand]

I don't think Welles seriously contemplated becoming a horror star like Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee or Vincent Price. By 1973, Welles was finding it harder to get good acting roles. This was due to his age and girth. Casting directors said he could only play Orson Welles. So Orson took whatever job came along to pay the bills and keep himself in the public eye. THE WITCHING / NECROMANCY / THE TOY FACTORY was directed by Bert I. Gordon (who called himself "Mr. BIG"). Gordon specialized in giant bug movies such as BEGINNING OF THE END, EARTH VS THE SPIDER and EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, and giant people movies such as VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS and THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN. Despite their poor special effects, Gordon's films are beloved by monster boomers. TORMENTED, a 1960 ghost story starring Richard Carlson (and a real change of pace for Mr. BIG) is probably his best work.
So it was quite a comedown for Welles to appear as the toymaker/warlock Mr. Cato in THE WITCHING (even before the porno scenes were added). And Welles looked terrible with that slim, grey putty nose. Hard to believe it was the same man who played the charismatic Harry Lime.

[tony]

I've often wondered about that nose thing: it didn't matter in B&W, but in colour his noses often looked as though they had died; didn't anybody say "Excuse me ,Mr. Welles, but your nose is blue"? Or was it his way of rebelling aginst having to do those awful roles????

[Wellesnet]

Coming soon from Code Red -- Bert I. Gordon's NECROMANCY (1972) in its original R-rated version! The film was famously cut, reworked and re-released as THE WITCHING, which is the edit most are familiar with from its Paragon VHS issue. Apparently the new Bluray is a limited edition of 1,000:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Necromanc ... ay/158812/

[Wellesnet]

Here's a review of the Bluray from DVDDrivein.com:
http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/n-s/ ... yblu72.htm

Putting the altered version known as THE WITCHING to the side (and gladly discarding it), Code Red has released NECROMANCY on Blu-ray from the only surviving element in what is believed to be the original R rated version before it was cut to get a PG (both MPAA PG and R rating tags appear at the beginning and end), and this print source offers a good amount of nudity. Some who have seen the film on its original 1972 run claim that theatrical prints did have nudity, so whatever the case may be, Code Red has offered an uncut release (with possibly some extra footage) of the original unaltered version for the first time on home video. The film is presented here in 1080p HD in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and looks pretty good overall. The colors on the surviving source elements definitely show some fade, but the full spectrum is there in most scenes with sharp detail throughout and a healthy grain structure. Blemishes on the original elements are fleeting (a few light scratches and reel-change cue marks) so the image is generally clean and free of any jump cuts or missing framing due to print damage. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is perfectly clear with no noticeable setbacks (no subtitle options are available on the disc).

Review from Mondo Digital:
http://www.mondo-digital.com/necromancy.html

Gordon goes for a dreamy, sinister vibe here that works much better in its original cut than the common The Witching version, which added lots of nonsense like a female ghost barking orders at our heroine. Welles is clearly cashing a paycheck here, but he’s never dull (to say the least). Also of note here is the casting of Lilith denizen Dr. Jay by Harvey Jason, who amusingly got his start in the 1964 film Lilith and married Franklin just after filming wrapped. (They’re still together, and he runs a great first edition bookstore in West Hollywood, Mystery Pier Books, where he’s happy to chat with fans.) Overall it's a deliberately paced but interesting little occult shocker that works up to a respectably nightmarish level in the final ten minutes or so, and even the hokey twist ending is pulled off with more panache than usual.

Taken from what is likely the only surviving print of the original Necromancy courtesy of the Cinerama vaults, Code Red's Blu-ray looks far better than any version we’ve had before. There’s some very obvious color fading here (the blues have almost gone entirely), but there’s enough left to get the idea across and clearly see what's happening in the darker scenes, always a major problem before...The film opens and closes with different MPAA cards, noting a PG rating at the beginning (which it bore on its theatrical release) and an R at the end. (Early promotional material bore the soon-to-be-retired GP rating, which was much more lenient with nudity and violence.)