season of the witch

THE FLICK: George Romero has dodged the “horror director” label for most of his career, as have many other industry folks behind and in front of the camera. Likely because it’s not a genre that commands the sort of professional respect (or golden statuettes) that come to those working in costume dramas, exposes on the mentally ill or even the odd romantic comedy. When you work in horror (even accidentally, as is the case with Romero), your work is rewarded only by the fans and as far as the industry is concerned you’re only good for one thing...making more horror films. But there’s an upside. Horror fans are some of the most enthusiastic folks you’ll ever meet. I mean, when was the last time you saw a Pretty Woman convention? And as connoisseurs of the macabre, these same fans will watch almost anything by their favorite contributors to the genre. Hence, Season of the Witch, which contains only marginal supernatural elements and very few scares, still earns itself a full-fledged collector’s edition DVD, giving one of Romero’s “forgotten” films a chance to earn an audience it never got in theaters circa 1971. And if you’re a fan of Romero “the director,” not Romero the marketing tool, you’ll find Season of the Witch to be an invaluable addition to your collection. Inspired by the burgeoning women’s revolution of the early ‘70s, the plot follows a middle-aged, middle-class housewife who uses witchcraft as an excuse to break out of her unsatisfying suburban life. Saddled with a husband who ignores her, friends that bore her, and a daughter that’s outgrown her, Joan (?) experiments with the occult as a means of fulfillment, but unlocks a series of nightmares in her own psyche that could lead to disaster. The description emphasizes witchcraft far more than the film does. Romero, whose script is rich, mature and still relevant, focuses only tangentially on the supernatural elements – and even then, mostly as a representation of guilt, lust and fear. A trio of sequences feature a voodoo-masked intruder, which account for all the film’s “shocks.” But the strength of the piece, which like many of Romero’s early works suffers from so-so acting and rather obvious technical flaws, is the strength of its characters who come across as genuine, flawed and real. This is Romero still learning his craft – stealing from his betters (the opening experimental montage is pure Bergman circa Wild Strawberries) and stumbling upon his own innovations (the shopping sequence set to Donovan’s Season of the Witch is way ahead of its time). But as hampered as he was by a low-budget, no-name actors and his own inexperience, there’s a damned interesting film that still manages to shine through. Even if you weren’t a fan of Romero’s latest zombie entry (I know I wasn’t), this is a chance witness the spark of a director on the cusp of something big. THE FEATURES: Anchor Bay kicks off the disc with a warning about the quality of the materials used to produce the transfer, which didn’t meet up with their usual “high standards.” And it’s not an exaggeration. Season of the Witch looks and sounds like your watching a rough-cut on a stand-up Moviola. But if the choice is seeing it this way or not seeing it at all, they done the right thing. And they nicely make-up for the poor AV quality with some spectacular special features. Most noteworthy is There’s Always Vanilla, Romero’s non-genre follow-up to Night of the Living Dead. Running 93 minutes and starring Judith Streiner – also in NOTLD – this is something Romero completists have been searching for for quite a while. It’s probably not something they’ll visit again (even Romero speaks ill of it), but still features the director’s unique editing style. The featurette Season of the Witch: The Secret Life of Jack’s Wife is a one-on-one interview with star ? who discusses how she got the job, how she chose her butt-double, and what she thinks of the film now. Digging up the Dead: The “Lost” Films of George A. Romero gives George himself a chance to explain both films (he’s quite fond of Witch but basically disowns Vanilla). But the icing on the cake is the hour-long episode of The Directors, which runs through all of George’s career on film. Trailers, Bios and Alternate Credit Sequences are also tacked on. All you horror fans out there, your patience has been rewarded.