The Sorcerers is a 1967 British science-fiction horror film directed by Michael Reeves, starring Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacey, Ian Ogilvy, and Susan George. The film is about an elderly couple (Karloff and Lacey) who use a device to control and feel the experiences of a younger man (Ogilvy), but the wife's intentions become increasingly aggressive and violent.
The film was released by Tigon British Film Productions on June 15, 1967. It received generally positive reviews from critics. Burke was removed from the main screenwriting credit and was relegated to an 'idea by' credit. His original script was posthumously published in 2013, with an introduction by Matthew Sweet and additional material from Kim Newman.
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "If Michael Reeves' second film is a trifle disappointing after the promise of The Revenge of the Blood Beast (1966), it is probably because the direction is constantly undercut by stolidly pedestrian camerawork and indifferent colour. All the same, Reeves manages to build a considerable charge, particularly in the second half of the film, with a superbly baleful performance by Catherine Lacey (Karloff is his usual reliable self, but a shade weary), and a script which comes as close to authentic Sadisme as anything since Peeping Tom (1960) in its detailing of the increasing urgency of Estelle's thirst for experience: from innocent splashing in a swimming pool and highway speeding on a motor-cycle, through the first taste of brutality to two murders, the first a flurried affair with scissors, the second much more leisurely and with the added refinement of prior terrorisation. It is the overall effect that impresses rather than any individual scene or composition (unlike Revenge of the Blood Beast), but the "psychedelic experience" is particularly well done, with the victim's face literally disintegrating in blobs of colour."
Leslie Halliwell said: "Rather slight but oddly memorable horror film, with an elegant old lady becoming the real monster."
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on , with a weighted average rating of 7.3/10.
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Institution
!Year
!Category
!Nominee
!Result
|-
|Trieste Science Fiction Film Festival
|1968
|Best Actress
|Catherine Lacey
|
|}