Horror On TV: Hammer House Of Horror Episode #1: Witching Time (dir by Don Leaver)


Hammer House of Horror was a British anthology series that ran for 13 episodes in 1980.  As you can tell by the title, the show was produced by Hammer Films.  Each episode dealt with a different type of horror and featured some of the best actors working in British film and television.

The first episode aired on September 13th, 1980.  Lucinda Jessup (Patricia Quinn), a 17th century witch, escapes from a pack of witch hunters by traveling into the future.  Discovering that her former home is now occupied by a film composer (Jon Finch) and his wife (Prunella Gee) and that the marriage is not a happy one, Lucinda puts her mark  on the composer.  Can the man’s unfaithful wife save him from the witch?  The husband isn’t all that sympathetic and I think that many viewers will probably feel that it might be for the best to just let the witch have him but this is still a well-acted and atmospheric episode.  Keep an eye for Ian McCulloch of Zombi 2 fame as the wife’s lover.

This episode also features some brief nudity so don’t watch it at work.