Lon Chaney, Jr. has cropped up a lot in my Halloween viewing this year, and here he is again in "Witchcraft" (1964). A centuries old feud between the Whitlock family and the Lanier family is rekindled when a modern development desecrates the graves of the Whitlock's, a family of witches. The destruction of the graves also allows Vanessa Whitlock to return after being buried alive 300 years earlier, condemned by a Lanier. The Lanier family and their associates are picked off one by one, until the final confrontation between the two families which climaxes in a spectacular fire.
This movie begins with a lot of promise, but quickly derails as plot threads lead nowhere, or are forgotten entirely. Chaney begins as a central figure in the movie, then vanishes for most of the rest before reappearing before the climax, and the Lanier's don't seem to be proacticve at all when it comes to saving their skins. It's still fairly enjoyable to watch, but the poor story structure keeps it from being the classic it easily could have been.
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