The dulling of the reds in particular deprives the presentation of a stronger sense of the color’s care- fully woven thematic uses, in signalling the con- test between the characters of Rowena and Ligeia. Arrow’s presentation is the necessary touch bolder. Arrow’s LIGEIA supplements are toplined by Roger Corman’s audio commentary for the film, which first appeared on MGM’s 2003 DVD of the film in a double feature with AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, and David Del Valle’s origi- nal audio commentary/interview with the film’s star Elizabeth Shepherd, originally recorded sometime in the early 1970s when the film was broadcast on a commercial Los Angeles TV station. We presented a transcript of the talk in VW 22 and it qualifies as one of the earliest known recordings of its kind. The recording quality is a bit rough by contemporary stan- dards, but it is of immense historical value. Separate on-camera interviews are provided with production assistant, second unit director and co-screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (24m 25s), assistant director David Tringham (8m 15s), clapper/loader Bob Jordan (7m 41s) and composer Kenneth V. Jones (6m 19s). There is also a 2m 31s theatrical trailer. The Scream Factory extras include the Iowa PBS wraparounds (with Price mistakenly referring to his character throughout as “Vernon Fell”) and a gen-
erous selection of three commentaries, which offer directorial, interpretative and critical approaches to the film. In addition to the Roger Corman commen- tary shared with the UK release, the disc includes a
brand new commentary by Elizabeth Shepherd, moderated by Roy Frumkes. Commentary tracks
by actors have a reputation for being fuzzily remem- bered and factually unreliable much of the time, but this one is a delightful exception; Shepherd comes to the track thoroughly prepared, sharp-wit- ted and articulate about the experience of making her most memorable film with Corman and Price. She clearly conveys the full value of what both men brought to the production and defends Price’s con- troversial casting by admitting that she, as Rowena, found it very easy to fall in love with this older man. The only lull in the track is when Frumkes takes a few minutes to talk about Poe himself, a sidebar that, while not unwelcome in itself, happens to co- incide with scenes where Shepherd’s observations would have been particularly welcome. The third track is another new one, by Constantine Nasr (editor of the book ROGER COR- MAN: INTERVIEWS), who tucks into the film’s rich substance and technique from a critical and deconstructive perspective. In his commentary de- but, Nasr is likewise well-prepared, citing produc- tion and registration dates and previously
unpublished interior correspondence. In a complaint one must lodge too frequently with Scream Factory releases, the commentary is included without any post-production editing, leaving the stumbles that inevitably come with reading from script intact. There are also some misstatements (Nasr refers to undercranked camera shots, which accelerate ac- tion, as overcranked) but, on the whole, his insights are sharp and attentive and well-synchronized to the feature.
WITCHFINDER GENERAL aka THE CONQUEROR WORM 1968, Scream Factory, 86m 50s Odeon Entertainment, 86m 42s
Taken as a pair, Scream Factory’s two VINCENT PRICE COLLECTION sets really do combine into a superb overview of the “Merchant of Menace” phase of the beloved actor’s much-varied career. This would not be the case to the same degree if not for the first set’s inclusion of Michael Reeves’ WITCHFINDER GENERAL, in which Price’s perfor- mance as Matthew Hopkins—a blood-soaked, sexu- ally-motivated, self-styled 17th century soldier of God, making a political reputation for himself on the ashes of innocent women—reminds us of his full range as a serious actor. Though full of horror, as violent as any Peckinpah film of the same era, this is an historical drama rather than a horror pic- ture—a film about the 1600s but also a film about the 1960s that cautions audiences (as would Ken Russell’s THE DEVILS in 1971) about the dangers tempted by a public that allows Church and State to intermingle.
Arrow Video has not released this title, but there is a British Blu-ray release from Odeon Entertain- ment (also 1.85:1) that predates and stands on fairly equal ground to Scream Factory’s effort. Both re- leases present a fully restored version of the film, more graphically violent than any that played in Brit- ish or American theaters of its day, and with the origi- nal Paul Ferris score reinstated after many years of being replaced on North American home video with an inferior and historically jarring synth score. The two discs share an audio commentary by producer Philip Waddilove and actor Ian Ogilvy (who plays the film’s heroic lead), which made its debut on MGM’s 2007 DVD, as well as the alternate open- ing and closing titles of AIP’s theatrical release ver- sion THE CONQUEROR WORM, which feature portions of the title poem read by Price, and the film’s theatrical trailer (2m 6s). Scream Factory also adds a diverting 25m assortment of Price trailers covering a half century of his career.
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