The film is part of the British folk horror genre that began in the late '60s and continued into the '70s; but unlike titles like The Blood on Satan's Claw, wonderful, Witchfinder General aims very straight at almost creating a historical fresco of the period where the witchcraft element is not in the foreground.
Vincent Price in the role of the inquisitor is superb, he has a charisma and stage presence of an excellent level, the shots from low to high place him as a disturbing figure and above everything, he is the law, and he takes advantage of it as he pleases.
He is a a rather devious character, he has no scruples in accusing, killing as he pleases, he takes advantage of young women, he would betray anyone to gain advantages.
The film, as well as for Price, works in recreating autumn landscapes with the colors of the very present earth, the browns, greens, oranges, which through well-constructed shots create the right atmosphere.
Already the beginning is excellent with the preparation of the hanging with the direction always wide-ranging, showing a lot of the landscape .
Reeves, director, also gives western echoes to the film, not only for the horse chases but also for how the subjects are framed on stage and for how the sun is used to compose the shot.
All this manages to give visual power, the film is very "dry" in style, there are no pop colours, but this does not deprive it of a certain emphasis also thanks to the many shots from above, the two scenes of the executions in the cities are beautiful.
It is also a very violent film, this is not only present in the story but is also widely shown in all its forms.
Violence always attributable to the inquisitor, the perfectly successful villain of the film.
On the writing, the love story between the soldier and Sara, the girl, is interesting and well written as are the former's motivations which will almost push him to become a "hero" of an adventure film, his sequence is very intense of the oath.
Some passages are not very clear, the soldiers at times seem weaker in the fight than the common people, and other writing issues are not perfectly articulated.
In conclusion, a very good folk horror, even a little different from the others, with a magnificent Price, spot-on atmospheres and a lot of violence.