Book Review: WITCHES, BITCHES AND BANSHEES

 

From LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS magazine comes a magnificent 365-page book called WITCHES, BITCHES AND BANSHEES, written by John Hamilton. 

The subtitle of the book--"The British Films of American International Pictures"--makes things perfectly clear. American International--more fondly remembered as AIP--was the company behind many of the most famous low-budget exploitation movies made in 20th Century. AIP had a long history with producers and distributors across the pond, and John Hamilton fully documents it in an extensive and entertaining manner. 

Among the movies thoroughly examined here are the famous (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, the only time AIP and Hammer Films directly worked with each other), the infamous (KONGA), and the surprising (a version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS with a very young Timothy Dalton). 

Each film covered gets a deluxe treatment, with plenty of info, rare stills and images, and a review of how each title was marketed and received by audiences and critics. Despite the volume of material, this book isn't just a dry recitation of facts--the author keeps things lively, especially with his sardonic comments upon the plot elements of each feature. 

Hamilton also discusses the lives of the filmmakers behind these titles--a group of renegades and mavericks who seem almost to be like movie characters themselves. James Nicholson, Samuel Arkoff, Herman Cohen, Harry Alan Towers, Deke Heyward, Tony Tenser, Milton Subotsky....the quirks and peculiarities of these men are more intriguing than anything shown in the movies they made. 

Of course the stars of these films are given plenty of attention as well--consider the book's front cover art by Paul Watts, which depicts genre legends Karloff, Price, Cushing, Lee, Steele, and Pitt. They're all here, along with all sorts of on and off set gossip and squabbles. 

The book is lavishly illustrated, with many of the stills and images in color. If you are familiar with LSOH magazine, the book's clean and concise overall design is somewhat similar. 

From my viewpoint, WITCHES, BITCHES AND BANSHEES is an exemplary piece of work (it's almost as if it was written just for me). The effort and detail by John Hamilton is massive. The book also serves as a mini-history of not just American International Pictures, but of the entire English Gothic movie period of the late 1950s to the early 1970s. For me, WITCHES, BITCHES AND BANSHEES is the movie book of 2022. 

*The book can be ordered directly from the LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS website: www.littleshoppeofhorrors.com