The Sorcerers

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Wayne K Oct 16 The second and, depressingly, penultimate directorial feature from Michael Reeves, The Sorcerers is a film with the perfect setting: Swinging London. With people free to live their lives in new ways and experimenting with fresh ideas, the concept of the elder generation resenting this and taking their frustrations out on those who are living life to the fullest make complete sense. Boris Karloff and especially Catherine Lacey make for a pair of brilliantly sinister antagonists. It’s not even a conventional ’science experiment gone wrong’ kind of conceit, it’s more about powerless people finally getting some kind of control and going crazy with it. Karloff brings a real sense of suffering and ruefulness to his role, which makes sense as he spent much of the 60’s in pain, and Lacey has perfected the evil scowl and menacing delivery of threats. It makes you empathise with its lead and despise its villains while also acknowledging their reason for doing it. It’s a shame Reeves didn’t survive to make more horror films, because if The Sorcerers and Witchfinder General are anything to go by, he was pretty damn good at it. See more Dave S 08/12/2024 The main problem with The Sorcerers is the fact that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. After developing a mind control machine, Professor Monserrat (Boris Karloff) and his wife (Catherine Lacey) lure a young man (Ian Ogilvy) into their lair and expose him to the device. Before you know it, they are experiencing all of his sensations and, more importantly, directing his actions, including murder. There is no explanation as to how the ridiculous machine works. There is no explanation as to why the young man would allow total strangers to hook him up to the device. There is no explanation as to why a young woman would allow a virtual stranger to escort her down a dark alleyway, leading to her death. On top of all that, the score is annoying, there is way too much unnecessary dialogue, most of the shots are poorly framed, and the sound levels are all over the place. The only people who might enjoy this are those interested in seeing Karloff in one of his final roles. See more 07/04/2021 The original story for this movie came from John Burke, who for the majority of his career wrote the novelizations for movies such as A Hard Day's Night, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, two volumes of The Hammer Horror Omnibus, Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Moon Zero Two and many more. Director Michael Reeves and his childhood friend Tom Baker — not the scarf-wearer Time Lord — re-wrote the script, including making Boris Karloff's character more sympathetic at the actor's request. Burke only got an idea by credit, but after his death, his estate published a limited edition of the original script, as well as letters and legal documents related to the film. The Sorcerers is very 1967 and I mean that in the best of ways. There are places within the London of this film that feel ancient and shopworn while others feel vibrant and new. The technology seems old and the movie is more than fifty years old, but it still feels like something that could be made today. Dr. Marcus Monserrat (Karloff) has invented a hypnosis-based machine that allows him to control people and feel what they feel. His wife Estelle is part of his experiments and as their device allows them to live the lives of others, a frisson occurs between them. Marcus wants to document and publish his experiments; Estelle wants to live a youth free of consequences through others. She destroys the device, making all of his work meaningless, and asserts herself as the stronger of the twosome. Now that she has complete control of Mike (Ian Ogilvy), she uses the young man to race recklessly, to steal and even to kill. Reeves had only made The She Beast and would only make one more movie, the amazing Witchfinder General, before sadly dying from an accidental overdose at the age of 25. He'd been suffering from insomnia and depression, with a variety of treatments being prescribed to help him. An investigation proved that this was no suicide, just a horrible tragedy. See more 10/11/2020 A Tigon film from 1967 regarding Marcus, a doctor (played by Boris Karloff) who practices hypnosis. His wife Estelle is also part of his practice as they search for a suitable subject for their experiments. Step forward swinging 60's hip-cat Mike Roscoe (played by future Saint Ian Ogilvy) who Marcus picks up in a Wimpy bar (it sounds well dodgy, eh?!) Roscoe follows Marcus back to his house and his hypnosis machine whilst being promised good times with no consequence before Marcus uses the machine on him. After undergoing the hypnosis machine (this sequence is very aesthetically pleasing. Think of the inner sleeve portraits of the band from The Velvet Underground and Nico album with the projectiles of dots over their faces and you're almost there) we learn that Marcus and his wife are able to experience whatever Mike is experiencing (but this is a double-edged sword as any physical injuries that Mike sustains will also be inflicted on the couple) with the pair being able to influence this by planting thoughts in Mike's mind to force him to do whatever they wish. But with such an ability to control someone's life there comes great responsibility and you will learn the controller's true intentions and characters. Marcus becomes almost like an angel on Mike's shoulder whilst his wife Estelle becomes the opposite and it isn't long before she's forcing him to beat up and even murder those around him. She even destroys the hypnosis machine when Marcus suggest deprogramming Mike's current mentally malleable state.  This film is terrific but I knew it would be as it's directed by Michael Reeves who made the similarly amazing Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm in the States). A fantastic premise, engaging characters but also very poignant as London life in the 60's is captured beautifully from the 'new' of the hip clubs Mike resides in through to the 'old' of the streets, pubs and newsagents of everyday life. This film is like a time capsule and photographed handsomely.  The cast are uniformly brilliant but it's the covertly evil Estelle, the Lady Macbeth of the film who steals the show. Her performance is astonishing as her face and eyes seemingly mutate and become more evil as her character does.  A classic. See more 08/16/2015 I'll have my fun without you. Professor Montserrat has developed a form of hypnotism that allows him to control people's minds. His wife is also a professional hypnotist and they have contests to see how well they can control people and what terrible things they can make them do. These efforts take a toll on their bodies. "You enjoyed it, didn't you?" Michael Reeves, director of She Beast, The Conqueror Worm, and Castle of the Living Dead, delivers The Sorcerers. The storyline for this picture is very mediocre and felt like an excuse to make a Boris Karloff movie at the end of his career. The acting was okay and the cast includes Karloff, Ian Ogilvy, Catherine Lacey, and Elizabeth Ercy. "He's responding appropriately." I came across this on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and had to DVR this old school horror picture. This was very average and nothing special but I enjoyed watching Karloff in this picture, even if he was older and less of a main character than we're used to seeing. I only recommend seeing this if you're a fan of the genre. Grade: C- See more 07/28/2015 Director/co-writer Michael Reeves has a bit of a cult following, with only three films as director and one more where he did uncredited work. This was his second credited film and it's a low budget horror flick that has horror icon Boris Karloff as a hypnotist who along with his wife, Catherine Lacey, seek out a despondent youth in swinging 60s London to try out their mind control experiment. It's an interesting idea that's not quite fully realized, but there are some seeds here of smart ideas and interesting visuals that show the talent director of Reeves, which would later come to full fruition with his follow up film, "The Conqueror Worm" AKA Witchfinder General. Co-Written by Tom Baker (not the Doctor Who actor) also co-wrote "Witchfinder General" so that's may also have contributed to the continuity between these two films. Not a great film and not for all tastes, but an interesting film none the less. See more Read all reviews

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