An oft-ignored and underrated slice of the 70s Scene, Simon, King Of The Witches offers up a pre-Harry Potter motion picture rarity: the idea that not all magicians, warlocks, or witches are evil.  Unfortunately, in the post-Manson Massacre world of 1971, audiences were craving drug-crazed murders, sex orgies, and the Dark Lord incarnate himself. 

Since the story Simon offered none of the aforementioned ticket sellers, its distributor decided to tack on King Of The Witches to the title and hype the film as a horror movie.  Those in attendance that weren’t confused probably felt profoundly ripped-off.  Either way, Simon wasn’t that big of a hit when it was released and would have to wait for the home video era to find its audience.

Character actor Andrew Prine is absolutely superb as Simon Sinestrari, a “magician” who lives in a storm drain and makes a living from telling fortunes and performing incantations for dollars.  Picked up for vagrancy one night, Simon befriends a young lad named Turk - a kid that looks like a cross between Arch Hall, Jr. and Randy Harrison from the American “Queer As Folk” series (and played by George Paulsin - who showed up in at least three more motion pictures before disappearing from the world in the 80s).  Turk introduces Simon to Hercules (Gerald York), a rich socialite, who introduces Simon to all of his friends.

Since it’s the early 70s, the corrupt men and women of society are nothing more than skeptical fools too caught up in the world of drugs and sexual liberation to take poor Simon seriously… and when a complete ass dupes Simon with a rubber check, Hercules “challenges” Simon to balance out the justice system and give the crook his just deserve (which is only the beginning of Simon’s frustrations).

While it doesn’t have the greatest delivery in the history of film (and is an easy contender for our Great Ideas - Poorly Executed feature), Simon, King Of The Witches does bring a few much-appreciated elements to the table such as humor (rather dark humor, but that is highly appropriate considering the subject matter - what, you think all “witch” movies should be like fucking Practical Magic?) and (this is important) believability.  Even with the bizarre characters (most of whom are not that far off from real people, I assure you) and during the most outrageous of moments (Warhol Factory actress Ultra Violet and her coven of Black Witches comes to mind), Simon, King Of The Witches still manages to keep your feet on the ground (except during Simon’s trip to another dimension, of course).

Prine’s on-again/off-again girlfriend/wife Brenda Scott co-stars as the hopped-up love interest Linda and Norman Burton (who had the distinction of playing a menacing simian in the original Planet Of The Apes film as well as the television series and was cast as Felix Leiter in Diamonds Are Forever) plays her no-nonsense District Attorney father.  There’s even a trippy sequence towards the end of the film which plays like a low-budget 2001: A Space Odyssey moment (the film’s director, Bruce Kessler, claims the visual work was done by the same company).

Presentation
Good news to those of you still holding onto your old VHS copies: you can dump ‘em now.  Dark Sky’s uncut, uncensored presentation (while a bit on the grainy side… which is to be expected, really) looks very nice - with vibrant reds and blues - plus you can actually see what’s going on during those dimly-lighted scenes!  The movie is presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 ratio (I believe the film was shot open matte - if so, nothing here appears to be trimmed) and contains an English Mono Stereo sound.  Another nice touch is the inclusion of English Subtitles (a rarity for some of the more “Indie” labels - if I dare call them that) and I can only hope other companies (ahem!) will start doing the same (remember: we’re getting older and don’t hear as well as we used to thanks to the advent of Dolby Digital Surround Sound, DTS, THX, etc.).

Extras
Two Featurettes don the Special Features section of this long-awaited DVD: Simon Says (16:53) is an Interview with actor Andrew Prine, while Making White Magic (11:58), interviews director Bruce Kessler (who also brought us The Gay Deceivers as well as numerous television episodes).  Both Interviews are fun and take a trip down memory lane with the history of the film and touch base on screenwriter Robert Phippeny (who was a practicing warlock) and the fun everyone had making it (to mention a few topics).  Also included on the disc is a Radio Spot (0:58) featuring the original US Poster Art as well as several Lobby Cards, the Theatrical Trailer (1:00) and, if you feel like hunting, an Easter Egg (0:53).

Note: The DVD I reviewed contained a slight “glitch” in the Special Features Menu.  In order to access the Trailer, you have to scroll down to the button that takes you to the Main Menu… and in order to go back to the Main Menu, you have to scroll down one more notch (the cursor disappears).  This does not happen on when played via a DVD-ROM though.

The Bottom Line
It never won an Award.  Nor is it likely to.  And if you don’t mind the absence of a true, genuine, bona fide “plot” per se, it’s an enjoyable cult classic.