- Directed by Roger Corman
- Written by Charles B. Griffith, Mark Hanna
- Stars Pamela Duncan, Richard Garland, Val Dufour
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 11 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK-jT8kgcYo
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
All you have to do to time-travel to the past is get hypnotized very deeply. At least that’s the driving premise of this movie. Once they get there it’s a tale of witches, devilry, action, and romance. It’s got some bright spots, but it’s not a really great one.
Synopsis
Satan introduces the story. He brags about how talented he is in his torments, then he laughs maniacally.
We cut to Diana Love, a prostitute. A “John” takes her to the psychical research institute. The man, Quintus, talks to the professor; he wants to invade the depths of the mind. Quintus wants to hypnotize her and use that power to send her back in time. She charges by the hour, so why not?
He does it; he hypnotizes her right there in the professor’s office and the professor looks on. It takes a long time, but she eventually finds herself in another place. She starts speaking in French. He wants to check out her other lives.
We flash back to when she was Helene, locked up, accused of being a witch. Gobbo the jailer taunts Helene and tells her she’s about to die. Diana talks inside Helene’s mind. Apparently Diana is inside the woman of the past’s own mind. She helps the woman escape.
Livia and her Imp appear to speak with Pendragon. He thinks Helene is innocent and wants to free her, and Livia agrees with him. She’s a witch herself, and she knows Helene isn’t in the club. Livia wants either Pendragon’s heart or his soul.
Helene hides inside Smolkin the gravedigger’s coffin. He recognizes Helene but helps her anyway.
Livia goes to see Scroop the barkeep, and he’s preparing for the witches’ sabbath, when they kill three witches. Livia tempts Pendragon, but he still holds out hope for Helene.
Meanwhile, Helene goes to hide at a real witch’s house. This witch, Meg, says that Livia was the one who enchanted Smolkin. Meg goes to see Scroop and Pendragon and tells them that she has Helene. Meg and Livia have words; they are enemies.
Pendragon goes to Helene; he needs to protect her until morning when the Witches’ Sabbath activities are over.
Back in the modern world, Quintus and the Professor listen to Diane’s story as she tells them what she’s experiencing. Quintus mentions that given time, he could follow Diane into the past. He wants to go back in time and undo the changes that Diane has made.
Livia needs a severed head for her ritual, so she takes Scroop’s. Pendragon agrees to sell his soul to the devil to free Helene, and Livia is ready to make the bargain. The witches converge on the cemetery, and there are a lot of them. Livia summons Satan, who says he wants dancing and singing. Several dead women get up and do a spontaneous interpretive devil dance— in matching costumes.
Satan’s offering boons for those who sign his book. A leper is healed. An old man is given a bag of gold. Pendragon is ready to sign, but Quintus tells him to stop. The devil knows Quintus is from another time. Pendragon agrees to go with Quintus and rescue Helene from the tower.
Meanwhile, Helene isn’t even in the tower; she’s waiting safely at Meg’s house with Smolkin. Pendragon arrives and is surprised that Livia lied to him. Helene/Diene recognizes Quintus, but can’t quite place him.
Quintus goes to see Meg and explains that he’s from the future. He explains everything. Everyone converges on the cemetery, where Satan offers to judge them all. Can they convince Helene to die now in order to save Diane in the future or stay where she is and erase Diane and all her future lives?
Helene decides to die now so she can live over and over in the future. Pendragon chases after her, and when Livia tries to stop him, he kills her.
Back in town, they behead one witch, then a second, and then Helene shows up to lose her head. She gets down on the block and gets beheaded as the sun rises.
Back in the modern day, Diane wakes up. The professor is still there, but Quintus’ body has vanished.
Back in the past, Satan explains to Quintus that he can’t go home. He laughs maniacally some more and vanishes.
Commentary
I loved Smolkin the gravedigger’s nursery rhymes. The imp who was the witch’s familiar was fun, and the rivalry between different kind of witches was interesting.
When Quintus traveled back in time, he was naked but still had his wristwatch. Diane, on the other hand, appeared fully clothed.
The faux-old-style English sounds like they’re trying to “do” a Shakespearean drama. This ain’t Shakespeare. There are way too many witches, and the only person who was arrested for being a witch… wasn’t. The fake bats and spiders don’t really support a lot of suspension of disbelief. That and no one gets particularly upset when Satan himself just shows up and hangs around.
Between the time travel, the witches, Satan, and the romantic angle, there’s a lot going on here. The fact that Helene/Diane is from the future doesn’t really seem to affect much. Other than Diane giving Helene advice immediately upon arrival, there’s not much sign of Diane during the past-activities.
Quintus was educated and studied in Tibet for seven years and clearly had a lot of knowledge of the occult. Then he found himself standing right next to Satan himself and didn’t even offer to have a conversation with the ultimate in supernatural answers.
It’s… a mess.