Theme: Witch Persecutions

Witch Persecutions refer to the historical persecutions of witches that occurred in the 17th Century across Europe and the USA where women were accused of being witches and placed on trial based on highly dubious evidence. It is claimed that anything up to 10 million witches were killed but given that Europe did not have a population that exceeded 60 million during this period, this seems unlikely and historians estimate a more probable figure of 50,000-100,000.

It is important to differentiate between the witches who persecuted historically and screen depictions of Witches who have magical abilities and exist in the realm of fantasy or horror. While many screen portrayals of witches are certainly evil, there is zero evidence that the women executed historically had any actual abilities or powers.

There was a spate of witch persecution films in the early 1970s following the success of Matthew Hopkins – Witchfinder General (1968), which was based on a real-life character. Many that followed were exploitation films that place an emphasis on sadism and the torture of the witches.

There are also a number of other horror films about witches being resurrected or exerting Supernatural Retribution from beyond the grave.