01
The Devils
Why this pick
Like Witchhammer, it turns religious authority into a terrifying machinery of accusation, spectacle, and punishment, with baroque visuals and a mounting sense of institutional madness.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1970 1h 43m CZE
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Witchhammer
DramaThriller
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Witchhammer, try these.
01
02
The Crucible
Why this pick
A grave, actor-driven study of a witch hunt’s escalating paranoia, where private resentments and official procedure combine to destroy the innocent.
03
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Why this pick
Its spare, harrowing focus on interrogation and religious judgment creates the same moral outrage and claustrophobic pressure as Witchhammer.
04
The White Ribbon
Why this pick
This austere black-and-white drama shares Witchhammer’s chilly historical atmosphere and its scrutiny of obedience, cruelty, and authoritarian moral certainty.
05
Marketa Lazarová
Why this pick
Another visually severe Czech historical masterpiece: fragmented, brutal, and immersive, with medieval faith and violence shaping every human relationship.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
In the 1670s in Moravia, an altar boy observes an old woman hiding the bread given out during communion. He alerts the priest, who confronts the old woman. She admits that she took the bread with the intent to give it to a cow to re-enable its milk production. The priest reports the incident to the owner of the local estate who, in turn, calls in an inquisitor, a judge specializing in witchcraft trials. Jindřich František Boblig of Edelstadt, the inquisitor, commences an ever-escalating series of trials, with Boblig revering the book ''Malleus Maleficarum'' as his guide. The tribunal uses Thumbscrew (torture) in its interrogations, relying on its conventional use to justify it against torture accusations. However, a priest, Kryštof Lautner, criticizes Boblig for inhumane methods, and another clergy member senses many of the accused women Death by burning are in fact innocent, and openly prays for the trials to stop.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Eduard Cupák
farár Schmidt
Martin Růžek
Biskop
Václav Lohniský
Jaroslava Obermaierová
Líza
Josef Bláha
hrabe Sternberg, statní sekretár
Vladimír Šmeral
Boblig
Josef Kemr
Ignác