Michael Reeves was born on the 17th of October 1943 in Sutton, London.
Michael was an English film director and screenwriter.
Reeves's love of film started at a young age. Apparently, at the age of eight, he announced to his mother that he wanted to be a film director.
He went on to make a film with his school friends when he was 11 years old called “Carrion” which was about a psychotic boy who attacks a girl in a wheelchair. A friend who worked on the project recalled "He didn't just want to make films, he wanted to make Hollywood movies, So we had to learn how to track. For this we used his mother's tea trolley with an 8mm Bolex camera on top."
Reeves inherited some money so he used the opportunity to travel to Hollywood when he was 17 years old, His goal was to meet his hero, the action director Don Siegel.
Reeves discovered where Siegel lived, and just turned up on his doorstep and rang his doorbell! The much-bewildered director answered his door in his underwear, Unphased Reeves said: "I've come all the way from England to meet you because you are the greatest director that ever lived"!
When Reeves was 21 he convinced the film producer Paul Maslansky to work with him on his debut feature.
“The She-Beast” (1966)
Starring Reeves's old school friend, now actor Ian Ogilvy in his first major role and the already established horror film icon Barbara Steele.
The film tells the story of young British newlyweds going on a honeymoon to Transylvania and being terrorised by a 200-year-old reanimated witch.
It is a campy horror romp even though it appears Reeves did write the script I think he removed his writing credit.
The film was shot in Rome in 21 days and cost £15,000,
The film is notable for featuring Barbara Steele, Reeves pulled that off by booking her for
“one day” and offering her $1000, but he didn't say how long that day was going to be
and Steele ended up working 18 hours that “one day”.
Reeves returned to England to direct a film he was proud to have written.
“The Sorcerers” (1967)
In this film, an old couple invent and build a machine that allows them to plug themselves in and then live vicariously through a young man as a form of avatar out and about in swinging London. It starts off innocent enough with them getting to visit night spots and drink fizzy pop but things soon spiral out of control.
The film is an allegory for the vicarious thrills we can experience via cinema itself.
Continuing the theme of Reeves managing to work with horror icons “The Sorcerers” stars Boris Karloff in his 8th to last film before his death and believe it or not it also features Reeves old school friend Ian Ogilvy as the young man.
The film was made quickly and efficiently on a very modest budget. Rumour has it they blew up a Jaguar car in Notting Hill without permission or permits and the blast broke windows in surrounding buildings. Reeves also filmed Ogilvy riding a motorbike on the M4 at 100mph. Ogilvy wore no helmet, while Reeves was in the boot of a car with his camera, demanding that his leading man come ever closer until the bike and the car were within a metre of each other. So this film was made quickly, efficiently and irresponsibly on the modest budget of £50k.
So a quick recap we have a young man born in London who wanted to be a filmmaker since he was 8 years old, just started making films on 8mm when he was 11 and now at age 23 he has directed two films both featuring Genre film icons made on tight budgets. This is such a promising trajectory for a filmmaker reminiscent of greats like John Carpenter, Joe Dante and even Steven Spellberg.
Reeve’s first project was made for £15k his second was £50k and for his next, he had secured £83k so regardless of his previous film's commercial performances his career was definitely going in the right direction and he even managed to secure another Genre film icon for his production.
“Witchfinder General” (1968)
A tale of violent revenge based on the real life character Matthew Hopkins, one of Oliver Cromwell's witch-hunters, who is alleged to have ordered the death of 200 people between 1645 and 1646.
Hopkins is played by Vincent Price and don’t worry Ian Ogilvy is also in this.
The film is a wonderfully brutal and violent and is beautifully shot.
Reeves along with cinematographer John Coquillon (who went on to work with Sam Peckinpah) really captured the rolling English landscape under “Turneresque” skys. It really stands up as a uniquely British film that portrays the country's elegance as well as its oppressiveness and cruel history.
Securing Vincent Price as lead was a pro and a con having a recognised name in the cast helped secure funding but it also came with… Vincent Price. An actor who was used to Hollywood and making movies on soundstages and having a trailer. Now the veteran actor was sent by his studio to the wilds of cold, damp and misty Suffolk.
He also found himself working for an extremely hungry, passionate and resourceful young director who still had a lot to prove. The story goes that Reeves who had a clear vision of what he wanted from Price told him
Reeves: "Stop over-acting, please, please, please, stop rolling your eyes, and try and look natural for once."
Price: "Young man, I've been in 84 films. How many have you made?"
Reeves: "Two good ones."
At which Price burst into laughter and did exactly what the young man told him from then on.
Reeves proved he was a total pro who could tackle problems head on and he arguably coached Vincent Price to the finest performance in his 55-year screen career.
John Coquillon Reeves cinematographer on Witchfinder said,
"Michael was 25 years ahead of his time, with the eye and the imagination of a veteran. I still wonder whether we ever worried our producers about our way of shooting Witchfinder. We were determined to make it our way and not in the conventional, accepted, boring (to us) ways of those times."
“Witchfinder General” was a critical success despite heavy cuts by the 60’s censors concerned by its violence it was also a hit at the box office. Amusingly when the film was released in North America it was renamed “The Conqueror Worm” because… America??
Off the back of the success of “Witchfinder General” Reeves was swamped with job offers and scripts, which Reeves just dismissed.
I feel Reeves was an auteur in the making and wanted to develop, write and direct projects he wanted to make with minimum studio interference.
Post his recent success Reeves fell into a deep depression.
Michael Reeves had a history of depression and poor mental health but due to growing up in the 50's and 60's this was kept secret due to the major stigma around suffering from mental health conditions.
He began self-medicating by drinking alcohol to excess and he also received medical help and was prescribed anti-depressants.
Reeves had started developing a project adapting the Edgar Allan Poe story “The Oblong Box” for the screen but was apparently having issues securing financing and had agreed to be involved in a project in America.
On the evening of 10th of February 1969 Reeves returned home to his Knightsbridge apartment drunk and due to suffering from depression and insomnia, he took his medication. The following morning Reeves was found dead in his bed by his cleaning lady.
He was 25 years old.
The coroner's report stated that Reeves's death was from an overdose of barbiturate that was deemed accidental due to the dosage being too marginal to suggest intention. Even though Barbiturates are a depressant it was prescribed as an antidepressant in the past to treat insomnia and it really doesn't mix well with alcohol so accidental overdose was a sadly common occurrence.
Who knows what Reeves may have gone on to achieve?
We did get an insight into his possible future when John Coquillon recalled a telephone conversation with Reeves shortly before he died.
"One day he called me full of excitement. He'd found the story. We were going to ride around the US, shoot in 16mm and shoot every which way, into the sun and out of the sun - on motorcycles.” Reeves had met with the then-unknown actor Peter Fonda and was on board to direct the film that would become “Easy Rider” (1969)
So it was very possible he would have made Easy Rider meet Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson & Karen Black and go on to direct amazing films and be hailed as a great of “New Hollywood” along with Altman, Friedkin, Bogdanovich & Hal Ashby. But sadly we will never know! What a loss!
“Witchfinder General” (1968) is a true classic and is now hailed as part of what is known as the “Unholy Trilogy of British Folk Horror” along with
“The Wicker Man” (1973) & “Blood on Satan’s Claw” (1971)
I want to add It is so important to talk about mental health and break the stigma around depression. It really does save lives.
I recommend watching,
“The Sorcerers” (1967)
You can rent this film via Amazon Prime for £3.49
It is currently out of print on physical media but DVDs and Blu-rays are available used online.
“Witchfinder General” (1968)
You can rent this via the BFI player for £3.50
It is currently out of print on physical media but DVDs and Blu-rays are available used online.
On the 24th of March 2024
“Witchfinder General” is being released on Blu-ray and 4K UHD Disc.
You can pre-order your copy via HMV now
