George A. Romero, best known as the father of the modern zombie movie, directed a lesser-known feminist occult drama between his genre-defining work. The film, Season of the Witch, was originally titled Hungry Wives and was released in 1973. It was made between Night of the Living Dead, which invented the modern zombie genre, and Romero's outbreak horror The Crazies. The movie is part of what The Verge is currently watching.
The studio marketed Hungry Wives as a softcore porn exploitation film, but it failed to find an audience. The reason, according to the report, is likely that the movie features minimal nudity, just one sex scene, and lots of talking. It was an undeniable flop upon its release. It was eventually rereleased as Season of the Witch after Romero's Dawn of the Dead sparked renewed interest in his work.
Romero's original 130 minute cut of the film has been lost, though parts of it have been recovered and restored. The restoration expanded the 89 minute original release to 104 minutes. Beyond the distributor cutting 40 minutes, another obvious reason for its failure is that what Romero made was not a softcore porn. Instead, it is a slow-burn feminist drama where the occult is almost incidental.
The protagonist, Joan Mitchell, is trapped in an abusive marriage and unhappy with her role as a submissive housewife. She eventually turns from therapy to witchcraft in an attempt to escape her humdrum life. The film has its issues, including low production value. It was apparently made for just $100,000, which is around $800,000 adjusted for inflation.
The acting is also wildly uneven, according to the report. While star Jan White turns in an excellent performance, others appear to be reading off cue cards or chewing scenery with Pachino-levels of camp. Still, the report finds something compelling about Romero's directing and his boldly progressive take on feminism for the time. For all of its reliance on dialogue over action, Season of the Witch still manages a tense and, at times, hallucinatory atmosphere. It all leads to a somewhat predictable, but still extremely satisfying ending.
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