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Post by Calenture on Mar 15, 2008 18:28:30 GMT
First published as The Devil's Own (1960); this Pan edition for the tie-in of the Hammer film of The Witches, with Norah Lofts as 'Peter Curtis', 1966. Walwyck seemed a dream village to the new schoolteacher, Miss Mayfield. But dreams can change into nightmares... Is it Miss Mayfield's imagination...or is Walwyck held in the grip of a centuries-old evil? Death stalks more than one victim before we find the answer...in a shatteringly suspenseful climax. Peter Curtis (pseudonym of distinguished historical novelist Norah Lofts) will hold you spellbound with The Witches. "Flesh-creeping" - Daily Telegraph "Intensely suspenseful, powerfully underplayed, subtly authoritative." - New York Times "A masterpiece of sinister malevolence." - Illustrated London News "Quite, quite different... eerie, horrific, brilliant" - Guardian Last night, Coral mentioned Norah Lofts as a writer of stuff more sinister than bodice-rippers on the Latest Finds threads. Here's more evidence. I don't remember the film - it starred Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh, Alec McGowan and was directed by Cyril Frankel. But I did read the book years back, and I remember it as a pleasantly chilly thriller. I have a liking for these novels of 'quiet terror' set in little villages. I suppose it's comparable to Bernard Taylor's Sweetheart, Sweetheart. |
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Post by sean on Mar 15, 2008 19:44:35 GMT
Factoid: The script for the film version of this book was written by Nigel Kneale.
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Post by Middoth on Dec 31, 2020 18:18:23 GMT
The Little Wax Doll ( a.k.a. The Devil's Own a.k.a. The Witches)
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 31, 2020 18:30:32 GMT
The Little Wax Doll ( a.k.a. The Devil's Own a.k.a. The Witches)
I can't look at anything but her too-long neck.... |
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Post by helrunar on Dec 31, 2020 19:09:34 GMT
A friend gave me a copy of this book a few years ago and I read it. To say the least I was underwhelmed.
The film version with the awesome Kay Walsh as the evil Stephanie (who barely makes a cameo appearance in the novel) VASTLY improves this story. The finale in particular was ridiculous in the book.
I see from Sean's post (12 years ago!) that the screenplay was the work of Nigel Kneale--and of course it was filmed at Hammer studios. Not surprising it was so good.
H.
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Post by Middoth on Dec 31, 2020 19:11:43 GMT
to Swampirella
She listens to the Call.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 31, 2020 19:26:38 GMT
The film THE WITCHES has a startling scene involving a cat sewn into a rag doll. That is all I remember. But that scene is good.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 31, 2020 19:45:39 GMT
You don't recall Kay Walsh as High Priestess Stephanie performing Isadora Duncan styled corybantics while screaming "Evocata! Evocata!"? That's seared into my memory forever.
Actor Duncan Lamont butchers a small animal (already dead--I think it was a rabbit) on camera, for real. A scene of foreshadowing...
H.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 31, 2020 20:11:45 GMT
You don't recall Kay Walsh as High Priestess Stephanie performing Isadora Duncan styled corybantics while screaming "Evocata! Evocata!"? No, certainly not. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 31, 2020 21:58:24 GMT
The idea for the film was Fontaine's - she had bought the rights for the book and approached Hammer to make it. Kneale wanted to do it as a black comedy, because he thought the idea of a coven of middle-class witches operating in 1960s England was ridiculous, but this was blocked by the studio. Interesting film though, especially given that it predates The Wicker Man by 7 years. Personally, I think the book is better than the film.
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Post by dem bones on Feb 2, 2021 9:32:18 GMT
The Hammer version. Been meaning to read this for weeks but can't get my head around novels this lock down around. Unusually for a recent-ish paperback, I like the cover. Peter Curtis' [Nora Lofts] - The Witches (Hammer/ Arrow, 2011. Originally published as The Devil's Own, MacDonald, 1960). Blurb: Walwyk seemed a dream village to the new schoolteacher, Miss Mayfield. But dreams can turn into nightmares.
When it becomes clear that one of her pupils is being abused by her grandmother, Miss Mayfield is determined to do something about it. But Ethel won't say anything, despite the evidence of Miss Mayfield's own eyes, and someone seems to be actively discouraging her from investigating further. As she tries to get to the truth of the matter, however, Miss Mayfield stumbles on something far more sinister: Waylwyk is in the grip of a centuries-old evil, and anybody who questions events in the village does not last long.
Death stalks more than one victim, and Miss Mayfield begins to realise that if she's not careful, she will be the next to die ....
Includes an exclusive introduction by Cyril Frankel, director of the classic Hammer film The Witches which was inspired by this book. |
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Post by sadako on Sept 22, 2023 21:50:10 GMT
 An edition with the third title |
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