It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

Set against the background of the English Civil War, this tale of the violent persecution of alleged witches by the eponymous central character is a masterpiece of 60's British cinema. Excellent performances, (especially Vincent Price's), complement evocative use of scenery. One point of interest is the changes in film stock, which makes the film appear redder at the end than at the beginning, a deliberate ploy on behalf of the director who uses the deepening crimson to symbolise the story's find out more...