{"id":504,"date":"2008-12-01T11:56:58","date_gmt":"2008-12-01T10:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2008\/12\/01\/season-of-the-witch\/"},"modified":"2008-12-11T12:41:27","modified_gmt":"2008-12-11T11:41:27","slug":"season-of-the-witch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2008\/12\/01\/season-of-the-witch\/","title":{"rendered":"SEASON OF THE WITCH"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\"Season<\/a><\/p>\n

\nFormat:<\/B> DVD

\nRelease date:<\/B> 20 October 2008

\nDistributor:<\/B> Starz Entertainment

\nDirector:<\/B> George A Romero

\nWriter:<\/B> George A Romero

\nAlternative titles:<\/B> Jack’s Wife, Hungry Wives<\/I>

\nCast:<\/B> Jan White, Raymond Laine, Ann Muffly, Joedda McClain

\nUSA 1972

\n104 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n‘The least qualified person to understand a dream is the dreamer.’ (Therapist, Season of the Witch<\/I>)\n<\/p>\n

\nAlso known as Jack’s Wife<\/I> or Hungry Wives<\/I>, Season of the Witch<\/I> was a strong political and stylistic statement by George A Romero, who chose to critically explore female identity during some of the most dynamic years of the feminist movement while eschewing the zombies that had made him famous in favour of witchcraft. It’s tricky to say whether or not Romero was fully aware of the sort of statement Season of the Witch<\/I> was making in relation to women’s liberation. Stylistically, however, it is clear that Romero was fully conscious of the break he was making, at least temporarily, with Night of the Living Dead<\/I>. <\/p>\n

\nThe film was originally released as Hungry Wives<\/I> – the trailer of which is included on the DVD as a special feature – and was marketed as a sexually charged exploitation film, with the emphasis on the sexual, violent and supernatural mischief bored housewives will get up to if left unchecked. The film’s star, Jan White, recalls (in an interview also included on the disc) the strong protests she made for the film’s title and trailer to be changed, as she thought audiences would be disappointed that the film was actually quite ‘avant-garde’ and not a ‘porno’ as they may have been led to believe. But whether the film is seen as art or exploitation, Jan insists that Season of the Witch<\/I> is Romero’s take on women’s liberation. <\/p>\n

The film follows the disintegration of bored housewife Joan (Jan White), then her subsequent rejuvenation as a witch through the discovery of dark sexuality and the occult. Joan is already seeing a therapist at the beginning of the film, but her mental state continues to decline as her nightmares are increasingly infused with her waking life. It is not until the leader of a coven introduces her to witchcraft that she begins to take some control over her existence: practising rituals and spells under her Catholic husband’s unsuspecting nose in the living room, seducing her daughter’s lover, and ultimately, engaging in an act of violence that seems to represent an extreme example of Romero’s take on the potential of feminism. This fear is also echoed through characters’ verbal references to two other films of the time, Rosemary’s Baby<\/I> and The Graduate<\/I> and in a visual reference in the opening sequence to Belle de jour<\/I>. All three films also revolve around a bored housewife and the sexual, supernatural or violent potential within her: ‘all of them witches’! <\/p>\n

Stylistically, the film immediately posits itself as a leap away from generic horror flicks. Its emphasis on dream and nightmare sequences push it further in the direction of Buí\u00b1uel than, say, Friedkin. One of the most visually powerful sequences in the film has Joan half-masturbate, half-sob on her bed while a storm rages outside and lightning illuminates the recurring motif of the ornamental bull on the dresser. The graphic images of Joan’s writhings keep a strange rhythm with her daughter’s loud orgasm coming from the room next door. <\/p>\n

Regardless of Romero’s political intentions with the film, he proves himself a master of the unheimlich<\/I>. The house he chose to shoot in was an existing cosy family home, which was used for the film with very little set dressing. The gnomish lamps that Romero repetitively features with dramatic lighting were apparently the clincher that made Romero decide on this particular house as his location. Thus, an unadulterated, real family home is transformed by Romero simply through lighting, repetition and soundtrack into something supremely uncanny. The family space is suddenly secretive, unsettling and a place of impending sexual violence. It is this creation of the uncanny through such extraordinarily simple stylistic methods that is the great success of the film. <\/p>\n

Siouxzi Mernagh <\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Season of the Witch<\/I> was a strong political and stylistic statement by George A Romero, who chose to critically explore female identity during some of the most dynamic years of the feminist movement while eschewing the zombies that had made him famous in favour of witchcraft.
\nReview by Siouxzi Mernagh <\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dvds-and-blu-rays"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/purUP-88","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6895,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2017\/10\/01\/theres-always-vanilla\/","url_meta":{"origin":504,"position":0},"title":"There\u2019s Always Vanilla","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"October 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This review of George A. Romero\u2019s atypical counterculture drama is an excerpt from horror luminary Kim Newman\u2019s new book Video Dungeon. Review by Kim Newman","rel":"","context":"In "DVD and Blu-ray releases"","block_context":{"text":"DVD and Blu-ray releases","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/dvd-and-blu-ray-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Theres Always Vanilla","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Theres-Always-Vanilla-594x334.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Theres-Always-Vanilla-594x334.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Theres-Always-Vanilla-594x334.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":305,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2008\/03\/01\/diary-of-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":504,"position":1},"title":"DIARY OF THE DEAD","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"March 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Zombie king George A. Romero returns to the sub-genre he created, with gripping if somewhat predictable results. Review by Lindsay Tudor","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5751,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2015\/09\/05\/dawn-of-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":504,"position":2},"title":"Dawn of the Dead","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"September 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The most easily enjoyable film in Romero\u2019s seminal zombie trilogy screens as part of \u2018The Colour of Money\u2019 season at the Barbican. Review by Neil Mitchell","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dawn of the Dead","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Dawn-of-the-Dead-594x336.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Dawn-of-the-Dead-594x336.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Dawn-of-the-Dead-594x336.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1243,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2010\/07\/11\/martin\/","url_meta":{"origin":504,"position":3},"title":"Martin","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"July 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"George A Romero's 1977 Martin offers a remarkably ambiguous, playful, disturbing and original take on the vampire. Comic review by Adam Cadwell","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/martin.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/martin.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/martin.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2132,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2012\/01\/04\/the-blair-witch-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":504,"position":4},"title":"The Blair Witch Project","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"January 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Blair Witch Project gets the stickman treatment as part of our January theme on fake documentaries. Comic Strip Review by Edd Paul","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/review_BlairWitch-594x815.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/review_BlairWitch-594x815.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/review_BlairWitch-594x815.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3736,"url":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/10\/29\/creepshow\/","url_meta":{"origin":504,"position":5},"title":"Creepshow","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"October 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The fact that Stephen King\u2019s first original script remains minor points to Romero\u2019s respect for King, and King\u2019s lack of respect for cinema. Review by David Cairns","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Creepshow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Creepshow-594x444.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Creepshow-594x444.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Creepshow-594x444.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}