The Witch Who Came From The Sea(1976) Review

A deep-dive analysis by Film Comment highlights as one of the most sensitive portrayals of mental illness and PTSD in 1970s horror. While its provocative marketing suggests a standard "video nasty," the film is actually a complex character study of a woman, Molly (Millie Perkins), struggling with the trauma of childhood abuse. Key Insights from Notable Blog Posts

: The script was written by Robert Thom (Perkins' husband) in a "manic haze" from his hospital bed to help pay his mounting medical bills. Thom drew on elements of Perkins’ own life, such as her father being a merchant marine. The Witch Who Came from the Sea(1976)

: A blog post on Meathook Cinema emphasizes the film's "unexpectedly gorgeous" look, credited to a young Dean Cundey , who would go on to shoot Halloween just two years later. A deep-dive analysis by Film Comment highlights as

: Despite being banned in the UK during the 1980s "video nasty" moral panic, critics from Little White Lies note the film is surprisingly light on gore compared to its peers. It focuses more on Freudian themes and mythological symbolism, such as references to Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus . Thom drew on elements of Perkins’ own life,

: Critics from We Are Cult describe it as a "woozy proto-slasher" with a rare feminist slant, opening with a striking sequence of Molly watching bodybuilders at an outdoor gym, subverting the typical male-oriented gaze of the genre.

: Modern interest has spiked because director Matt Cimber served as the inspiration for Marc Maron’s character, Sam Sylvia, in the Netflix series GLOW . Some bloggers even speculate that Perkins’ look in this film inspired Alison Brie’s character in the show.