Season of the Witch Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Season of the Witch Blu-ray Movie Review

Tentative on the bewitched part, but definitely bothered and bewildered.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 15, 2017

Note: This film is available as part of George A. Romero: Between Night and Dawn.

Mention the name George A. Romero to just about anyone, and if they recognize it, chances are they’ll be prone to think largely of films like Night of the Living Dead, or indeed prone to think only of that film. The legendary 1968 zombie film was such a watershed moment in the history of horror that it perhaps unavoidably branded Romero and his coterie of Pittsburgh collaborators in ways that any creative artist would probably try to break free from, if only to clearly establish that they were not a “One-Trick Pony” (so to speak). There’s an obvious “and now for something completely different” streak running through the three films that Arrow has assembled in its cheekily titled Between Night and Dawn set. This trio of films consists of the trifecta Romero and his repertory company (both in front of and behind the camera) produced in the wake of Night of the Living Dead. Of the three, the first film to come out after Night of the Living Dead, There’s Always Vanilla, is perhaps the “most” completely different, due at least in part to the fact that Romero didn’t write it (and, notably, considered the finished film something of a disaster). Season of the Witch and (especially) The Crazies arguably have more in common with what’s traditionally thought of as Romero canon, with plot lines that at least touch on science fiction or otherworldly phenomena, and with both addressing a frequent subtext of Romero’s works, the dialectic between an anachronistic individualist and those heeding to societal norms.

Some indication of the difficulty Romero had breaking free of the “horror” branding after the immense success of Night of the Living Dead can be had simply by recounting the marketing mayhem that accompanied the release of Romero’s second film after the zombie masterpiece, a film which was initially supposed to be called Jack’s Wife, but which was rebranded by its first distributor as Hungry Wives, and which has subsequently become known as Season of the Witch (not to be confused with the Nicolas Cage film). If There's Always Vanilla found Romero attempting to visit a late sixties freewheeling youth romance storyline, this film (in whichever iteration and/or title you choose) seems to be investigating some nascent Women’s Liberation content that might make it a kind of cheeky analog to other early seventies films like 1972’s Stand Up and Be Counted! (a film which saliently incorporated Helen Reddy’s anthemic “I Am Woman” into its soundtrack).

That Hungry Wives moniker has an obvious sexual subtext, and one of the curiosities of this film is that it was apparently originally marketed as soft core porn under that title, this despite the fact that aside from a few allusions to sex, it’s hard to really find any truly prurient content. Instead, the film charts a perhaps even odder course as it details the travails of suburban housewife Joan Mitchell (Jan White), whose unhappy existence is spiced up a bit when she meets local coven operator Marion Hamilton (Virginia Greenwald).

Just in case that’s not weird enough for you, Romero offers this all in what commentator Travis Crawford calls Bergmanesque, and there certainly is the same kind of dissociative subtext in this film that informs outings like Persona (Joan is in fact in therapy, trying to deal with her psychological issues). With tongue only slightly in cheek, I’d suggest that the film also sometimes plays like a weird distaff cousin to Groundhog Day, with Joan repeatedly awakening from horrifying nightmares, to the point that even the supposed “real life” scenes start playing in a dreamlike fashion.

Once Joan starts investigating witchcraft, a forbidden love angle courtesy of a relationship with the much younger Gregg (Raymond Laine) enters the fray, who in one kind of quasi-salacious aspect, is involved with Joan’s daughter Nikki (Joedda McClain). The film veers back and forth between a kind of lurid presentational style in the “real life” scenes that almost plays like a suburban Pittsburgh version of a telenovela at times, but then the “fantasy” sequences take over, many of which are frankly kind of gonzo, if occasionally rather disturbing (one dream scene where Joan can’t get a rifle loaded fast enough to take out a Satan masked assailant has the kind of scary visceral quality that the “best” nightmares do).

It’s a little hard to know what exactly Romero was aiming for in this film, though he’s on record stating that he considers this his first “true” film, since both Night of the Living Dead and There’s Always Vanilla were “made by committee”. Stylistically, the film is often quite arresting, especially in the dream sequences, but there’s an overheated quality to a lot of the real life material, and the entire narrative is so fractured that nothing ever builds to any significant catharsis.

Season of the Witch Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Season of the Witch is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration (as well as information on the extended version also included on the Blu-ray as a supplement):

Season of the Witch (aka Hungry Wives) has been restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 with mono sound. The original 16mm AB camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan at OCN Digital. The film was graded on a Baselight and restored using a combination of software tools and techniques at Deluxe Restoration, London. The original mono soundtrack was transferred from the optical negative elements.

George Romero's original cut of Season of the Witch was entitled Jack's Wife and reportedly ran for 130 minutes. For its 1973 theatrical release, the film was cut down to 89 minutes and marketed as a softcore film under the title of Hungry Wives. This version was later retitled Season of the Witch, to emphasize the horror elements of the film and capitalise on the success of Romero's Dawn of the Dead.

Presented on this release is the original theatrical version. The alleged 130 minute version has never been released in any format and is considered lost, although a slightly extended 104 minute version has since surfaced on home video. That version is also here included, recreated using the new transfer of the theatrical version combined with SD inserts, the only available source for the additional footage.

The original film and audio elements for Season of the Witch were made available for this restoration by Films Around the World and a private film collector. Additional research and inspection was done by Joe Rubin at OCN Labs, CT.

This is a very impressive looking restoration from Arrow, one which preserves the inherently soft and grainy ambience of the 16mm source but which still delivers some surprising amounts of detail, at least when lighting conditions allow. There are some very slight variances in color temperature and general densities, but overall the palette looks accurate and occasionally at least rather warm. While shadow detail is actually quite appealing much of the time (see screenshots 14 and 16), there are a few select moments of crush in scenes like some late night footage in cars. Clarity is best in midrange and close-ups, as should probably be expected, but some of the wider outdoor shots still offer decent detail levels.

Season of the Witch Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All three films in this set feature LPCM Mono tracks, and all share many of the same characteristics, so I'll treat them in tandem. While dialogue, effects and the sometimes unusual score choices (including some electronic music) come through with relative clarity, all three tracks suffer from an undeniable boxiness that tends to tamp down energy and can make things sound artificial at times. There is also occasional but not overly distracting distortion at times, especially in the higher registers when voices get raised or (more noticeably) when some of the brasher cues are being utilized.

Season of the Witch Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Travis Crawford


• Extended Version (1080p; 1:44:20) offers a "combo platter" of the transfer of the main feature with inserts from an SD tape master, the only source available, to create this version, which was compiled by Michael Felsher.


• When Romero met del Toro (1080p; 55:40) is a great far reaching dialogue from early 2016 between the two icons filmed at Romero's Toronto apartment.


• The Secret Life of Jack's Wife (1080i; 17:17) is an appealing archival interview with Jan White.


• Alternate Opening Titles

  Jack's Wife (1080i; 3:33)

  Hungry Wives (1080i; 3:36)

  Season of the Witch (1080i; 3:27)

• Image Galleries include:

  Filming Locations (1080p; 1:34) features commentary by Romero historian Lawrence DeVincentz.

  Collectible Scans (1080p; 2:32) offers an assortment of things like key art and other advertising or promotional imagery.



• Trailers

  Hungry Wives (1080i; 1:31)

  Season of the Witch (1080i; 1:47)

Season of the Witch Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's more of a feeling of a nascent auteur in charge of Season of the Witch than there was with There's Always Vanilla, but this is still an effort that's long on style but at time short on narrative logic and momentum. Probably best enjoyed as a minor trifle in Romero's filmography, Season of the Witch has some interesting ideas permeating it, if you can get past some of the hyperbolic "real life" sequences, not to mention the almost psychedelic nightmare vignettes. Video looks great, audio is okay if underwhelming, and the supplementary package very well done for those considering a purchase.