Abertoir
The International Horror Festival of Wales

Although he was only 25 when he died Michael Reeves opened up genre cinema to new possibilities. Now considered one of the forefathers of folk horror for his groundbreaking masterpiece Witchfinder General (1968) Reeves certainly left his mark as a director. The fact he wasn’t around long enough to expand on his legacy, let alone celebrate it, is one of the biggest tragedies of British film history. This new feature-length documentary focuses on the life, loves, passions, and films of Michael Reeves, from his childhood dreams, and early excursions to Hollywood, to an in-depth analysis of all of his major works, and finally the sad circumstances of his early death. Bringing together a collection of new and exclusive interviews, including the star of all of the director’s films and personal friend Ian Ogilvy, his childhood friend and scriptwriter Tom Baker, as well as insights from former girlfriend Ingrid Cranfield, alongside film historians, Abertoir regular Gavin Baddeley and Reeves’ biographer Benjamin Halligan, The Magnificent Obsession of Michael Reeves offers the definitive history of one of British genre cinema’s much loved cult figures.