Product Details

• Actors: Allyson Ames, Norman Burton, Jay Della, Angus Duncan, William Martel
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Dark Sky Films
• DVD Release Date: June 24, 2008
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0015I2S0G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,452 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Simon, King of the Witches" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

SIMON KING OF THE WITCHES - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Occult Satire, December 27, 2004

By 

P. Pigman (Amherst, Mass.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simon, King of the Witches [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Simon is an exploitation flick cashing in on two things: the California "occult" culture and anti-establishment druggies. For people with some familiarity with the occult and NeoPagan communities, this is a funny film. Simon (the character) is a vagrant "warlock" (the term he uses to describe himself) who resides in the storm drains at the start of the film. After being arrested, he hangs out with a young male hustler, goes to a party given by "Hercules", and sells some "charms" at the party. And that's just the first five minutes or so. Simon is a "powerful" magician (so why is he living in the storm drains?)who has a goal of charging an "effluvial condenser" so he can use it to become "a god."

The film is slightly marred by a couple of *very* cheesy special effects. But it seems obvious that the scriptwriter had some understanding and experience with the occult because there are just too many in-jokes for it to be coincidence. This is not a great film and its B-movie origins are unmistakable. And the use of the Latin phrase for "Carthage must be destroyed!" ("Carthago delenda est!") during a ritual incantation is a nice bit of fun. Before comitting a particularly heinous act, Simon says: "Guess this means I'm not done with the darkness yet. This should help."

I give this four out of five stars but, for a certain audience (people with experience in occult, Wicca, NeoPaganism, etc.) it's definitely a five.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Simon Curses the Establishment--Should Curse His Poverty Too!, June 27, 2008

By 

Jack Shatter (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Simon, King of the Witches (DVD)

Simon, the witch of 1971 L.A., is sincere and capable, but only manages to
move his headquarters from a cubbyhole in a storm drain to a rented
basement space during this bizarre tale. Most of his focus is to bring
down a poseur (who wrote him a bum check), and the police force and D.A.
He name-drops alot of mythical beings, and conjures up a glowing-red
vortex to harm his enemies. His most entertaining attempt at hexing
involves the unclad participation of fragile and big-eyed Brenda Scott.

The occult yarn gets even stranger when Simon, like Marvel's Dr. Strange,
steps into a Magic Mirror, reeling through a "2001" inspired "psychedelic
light show," to try to save Brenda Scott from evil forces. You couldn't
say things work out too well, but Simon instructs us that "Death is only
temporary."

Andrew Prine was a wise choice for playing Simon. He reminded me of the
young Ian Anderson of "Jethro Tull" fame, in looks and insouciant manner.
Another possible model was Niall MacGinnis as conjurer Karswell in the
1957 "Night of the Demon." Prine's occult line-readings were much like
those of MacGinnis--could Simon be Karswell's long-lost American son?

"Simon" is another crazy B-movie gem from the long-ago Countercultural
Stoner Occult Hippie times!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and entertaining movie for it's type, February 10, 2008

By 

Mark L. Nelson (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simon, King of the Witches [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In general, if you aren't into the occult scene then this movie probably won't make too much sense to you - like previous reviewers have stated - as there are too many "in" jokes. But if you like "B" grade movies that have `overthrowing the corrupt establishment' as part of the plot (by Magickal means no less), then this could be an interesting movie for you.

The events portrayed take place in Southern California (and not San Francisco as some have stated), around 1971 and the tone and style is very late sixties. In the movie Simon is living in a storm drain for reasons that are unclear, but it may be that Simon has no interest in material things. All Simon is interested in is his Magickal art and the end result, becoming a God himself. As it turns out, the Gods are jealous and keep their power to themselves by means that are craftier than we mere mortals can imagine.

There is a Wikipedia entry for this movie that has this statement:

"The character of Simon Sinestrari was reputedly based on the public persona of the ceremonial magician and occult author Poke Runyon, a well-known figure in the Southern California Neopagan scene at that time. Runyon himself acknowledges the likeness, and has said that the only major inaccuracy is that he "never lived in a sewer"".

In the movie Simon visits a Coven of witches in Pasadena. At the time, the best-known "coven" in Pasadena was the "First Church of Tiphareth" operated by Sara Cunningham (aka "Lady Sara"). Though the movie pokes good-humored fun at her, she did not take it too well, even though several members of her group went to see the movie and found it all quite humorous.

There are several interesting plot twists where Simon makes a prediction that he doesn't realize involves him as well. Then there is the vision he has when he is inside of his Magick Mirror that he doesn't understand the full implications of, until too late.

One of the reasons I like this movie is because it portrays the ideas of Western Magickal thinking, as I understand it, better than any that I can think of at the moment. By contrast, I was somewhat disappointed with the `Harry Potter' movies on this point.

In summary I thought it was a good movie and well acted. You have to take into account that it was low budget and done in the seventies and therefore you should not compare it to mega buck modern movies. If you can do that, then you can enjoy this movie.

If you would like to read more, here are some links:
[...]
Here are some links to the activities of Poke Runyon for those interested:
[...]
If the above link is too long, just search for "Beyond Lemuria" in the DVD section of Amazon.