The Witches Hammer is a 2006 British action horror film.
A woman who just got vamped is enlisted by the British Crown to become a Hunter of Monsters. She soon becomes best in the business, until her organization is destroyed by an army of bloodsuckers. Now, she must go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge to prevent the bastards from unleashing the souls of the damned to walk the Earth!
Not to be confused with the Malleus Maleficarum, which translates to this film's title, though a book with a similar title does feature heavily in the piece.
This film contains examples of:
- Arch-Enemy: Rebecca has Madeline Renoir, who ordered everybody else in her Creature-Hunter Organization massacred.
- Big Bad: Madeline Renoir, the sorcerous vampire who massacred Project 571.
- Disc-One Final Boss: The mastermind behind the film's events seems to be Hugo Renoir, until he's revealed to be working for his mother.
- Evil Sorcerer: Renoir leads a group of vampiric witches who wish to bring Hell on Earth.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: The Souls of the Damned are a trio of spirits who empower a vampiric organization to open a portal to their realm and bring Hell on Earth for reasons that are never explained. They spend the movie discussing their plan and occasionally berating or killing a goon for failing.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Souls of the Damned, dark entities who empower Renoir.
- MacGuffin Title: Named after the only book that can defeat the baddies.
- Made of Evil: The Souls of the Damned are the only three beings not created by God; they were borne from the anguish of all the souls in Purgatory.
- Our Vampires Are Different: These have heightened speed and reflexes and are killed by any severing of the head or piercing of the heart, regardless of material. Aside from the traditional bite transfer, the curse can also be transferred via eating vamp meat. If they go too long without blood, they become ravenous beasts that can even be burned by moonlight.
- Professional Killer: Renoir sends a squad of these after Rebecca to get the Malleus Maleficarium from her.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: A vampire huntress pursues the apocalyptic cult who slaughtered her entire organization.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: The Malleus Maleficarium, a spellbook written by the world's first witch.
