The Conqueror Worm is a movie from 1964 that has nothing to do with a conquering worm, or the Poe poem by the same name. This was cheap marketing to capitalize on the success Roger Corman and Vincent Price were having with their string of Poe adaptations. They should have stuck with the infinitely cooler Witchfinder General moniker. By the way, is there a cooler job title than “Witchfinder General?”

The movie stars Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins, who is a nonfictional historical figure who is a lawyer turned witch hunter. Apparently this was a lucrative business back in the day, as Hopkins turned a nice profit. The witch-hunt seemed arbitrary though, as old men to little girls were decreed witches and tortured to death. Problems arise however when a successful infantryman loses his future uncle-in-law to some witch-hunting shenanigans. His fiancé is victim to Hopkins’ lustful advances also, in a noble but futile attempt by her to get her uncles life spared. Hell, it was worth a shot. The infantryman vows vengeance and scours the countryside looking for Hopkins and his lackeys, in order to exact justice.

This is one of the older movies that I’ve watched, but it was entertaining nonetheless. You lose some perspective on when a movie was made whenever it is based on a much earlier time period. This is a good thing.

Vincent Price does an excellent job as the sinister cold-hearted Hopkins. All the acting is good, in fact.

There’s lots of torture in this movie, naturally. None of it is too graphic, but it’s still uncomfortable to sit through, as most scenes are quite lengthy. We are even treated to a quick boob shot or two. I was surprised, especially since I watched it on TCM.

The movie could have flowed better. A time or two it dragged a little and the ending was a little too fast. I sympathized with the main characters, but that lessened as the movie progressed.

To summarize, this was a decent movie. Vincent Price is EVIL! My hero. I give this 5 out of 10 times in history that I am glad I wasn’t a part of.

This review was fueled by All That Remains. Slowly pulling away from the pack.