Movies - Simon, King Of The Witches

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	Movies - Simon, King Of The Witches

Simon, King of the Witches, a rarely-seen 1971 film, directed by Bruce Kessler and starring Andrew Prine, is not technically a horror film as the title might suggest. It falls much more in the realm of campy psychedelia, with Prine playing a cynical warlock named Simon Sinestrari who is on a quest to become a god. Simon lives in a sewer, selling his charms and potions for money, when he is befriended by a young male prostitute named Turk (actor George Paulsin). Turk introduces Simon to his world of drugs, wild parties, and hysterical Wiccan rituals featuring a goat and Andy Warhol star Ultra Violet. Death and mayhem ensue, along with romance for Simon with the district attorney's daughter (played by Brenda Scott). Whether the film's ending is a happy one remains subjective, but the journey, the script, the characters, and Andrew Prine's performance make this a 70's gem not to be missed.

What sets Simon, King of the Witches apart from the legion of occult genre films of the late 60's and early 70's is the script, which is far more literate and versed in the esoteric than the norm, both offering new twists to and poking fun at the cliches of the genre.

Simon is also is much more satirical than gothic. Several scenes are obviously meant to be taken as a black comedy, a fact that tends to escape traditional horror fans.

The movie begins with Simon walking in the rain, reciting a monologue about being a warlock, after which he is immediately busted for vagrancy.

A rainstorm floods the storm drain Simon lives in and washes away his magic paraphenelia.

Turk and Simon crash a Wiccan ceremony presided over by Ultra Violet. Every cliche in the book from spooky music, sinister chants, references to "Queen of the Night", people undressing and eventually worshipping a real live goat is dragged out. In a separate room, Turk is getting it on with a nude girl on a mock altar, who refers to herself as a "sacred object". Simon is thoroughly unimpressed with the goings on and eventually ridicules the coven much in the way Frank Langella
mocks Lena Olin
's devil worshippers in the Roman Polanski film The Ninth Gate
. The couple make a hasty exit with the angered Wiccans on their tail. The scene changes to Simon and Turk entering a party elsewhere.

Through all of this, Simon's approach to his magic and the world is nothing short of cynical. He holds absolutely no romanticism at all towards his work and reacts to everything else with laconic amusement.

The misleading advertising campaign, which set up Simon as a Satanic sex orgy film cashing in on Charles Manson seriously hurt the film at the box office. The film is practically bloodless, has some nudity (which, again against the norm, actually serves a purpose in the story) but no explicit sex and no parallels whatsoever with Manson. Like many other more eccentric 70's low budget genre films, Simon has become a cult film over the years, albeit an extremely marginal one, and has yet to see a DVD release.

There was also a novelization of Simon by Baldwin Hills, more than likely a pen name, which took the satirical camp of the film one step further into full-on absurd comedy.

Cast

Simon (Andrew Prine)

Turk (George Paulsin)

Linda (Brenda Scott)

Hercules (Gerald York)

Rackum (Norman Burton)

Commissioner Davies (William Martel)

Chief Boyle (Ray Galvin)

Mayor (Art Hern)

Sarah (Ultra Violet)

Landlord (Harry Rose)

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