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Virgin Witch (1971)

Dir: Ray Austin

In no way a Horror film, this is more like an exploitation/soft porn drama.

Two Sisters, Christine (Ann Michelle) and Betty (Vicky Michelle, who would go on to TV fame, or infamy, in the popular 80's BBC comedy "Allo' Allo") become involved with a Coven of Witches, when Christine is set up by the Lesbian head of a model agency, Sybil Waite (Patricia Haines) to go into the country for a shoot.

Although Betty is not so keen on staying at the large mansion house and feels uneasy about what is going on, Christine revels in the Covens activities.
She has already shown signs of psychic ability, and when the male head of the Coven initiates her, her powers increase. As does her ruthless ambition......

 

Take away the nudity of the Michelle Sisters, and we have little to get excited about here.
The pace is slow, the cinematography ugly, and there are no thrills or chills. Director Ray Austin worked almost entirely on 70's/80's TV shows, and that kind of TV flatness and lack of cinematic ambition is certainly on show here.

The Witchcraft plot is at least mostly treated with respect, with none of the cliche attitudes and little of the 'spook show' iconography normally associated with cinematic Witches.
There does however seem to be a mistake with the mask showing the face of the 'High One'. It actually looks like a Japanese Demon face. Those who are familiar with "Onibaba" will spot it instantly.
Fun can also be had with the 'crazed madness and lust' that takes over the Witches during the final ceremony. No one keeps their dignity (or their clothes) as they all go into spasmodic body movements sporting supposedly wanton and lustful facial expressions.

The sex is mild and limited and has hardly any real erotic charge, but the nudity (almost all from Ann and Vicky, with only some brief glimpses of the other naked Male/Female Witches during the Witchcraft ceremonies) keeps the viewers interest to a certain extent.

Pretty good performances all round, with especially nice turns by Ann Michelle as the predatory and ruthless Christine and Patricia Haines (first Wife of Micheal Caine and who sadly died of cancer 4 years after completing this, her penultimate film) as the Lesbian Sybil who, in the films only real erotic sequence, takes an instant lust towards Christine. The scene where she bends down in front of the naked Chrissy to take her measurements is charged with a genuinely erotic atmosphere.

Otherwise, this is a pretty dull little film that relies almost completely on the naked charms of the two Sisters.