Matthew Hopkins existed and called himself 'Witchfinder General'. He used sleep deprivation to get confessions - torture was not legal in England for witchcraft investigation. In England convicted witches were always hung, never burnt. The entire scene of burning is a total invention. The real Matthew Hopkins was soon discredited, although belief in witches lasted much longer. A decent film could have been made about the real events. This isn't it. I can't see anything except a pretext for a rather gruesome film that misses the point of what the witch-craze was about. Things similar to the film did happen in other countries, but the attempt to make it more real by setting it in our own country is not honest.
Review of Witchfinder General
