Review of Simon, King of the Witches (1971) by Rick D — 06 Mar 2010

Fairly hilarious dark comedy which satirizes both hipster witchcraft and the conventions of supernatural cinema. Simon starts out living in a storm drain, aspiring to godhood while easily impressing his swinging, clueless hustler buddy. Andrew Prine is pretty fun as the bemused, verbose lead, and wreaks a vague vengeance on the contemptuous squares who try to bring him and his down.

There's a ridiculous black mass led by Ultra Violet, interrupted by Simon and his horndog pal. Then, a couple of silly magic rod charging rituals on Simon's behalf. The first of which fails due to excess lust, which is corrected by the substitution of a campy yet game homosexual as the electric/magnetic element.

The whole thing has an intentionally absurd self-importance, with timely anti-establishment and pro-experimentation overtones. But the script is very amusing, and Prine's performance is so loonily self-assured that it carries along well.