George A. Romero's 1973 film, originally titled Hungry Wives and later rereleased as Season of the Witch, was a commercial failure. According to The Verge's Terrence O'Brien, the studio marketed it as softcore porn, but the movie had minimal nudity, one sex scene, and lots of talking. The distributor also cut roughly 40 minutes from Romero's original 130-minute cut, leaving an 89-minute release that flopped.
The business story shifted after Romero's Dawn of the Dead sparked renewed interest in his work. The film was rereleased under the Season of the Witch title, and parts of the lost original cut have since been recovered and restored, expanding the runtime to 104 minutes. That restored version is now available to stream on Mubi and Kanopy.
O'Brien's review argues that what Romero actually made was not exploitation but a slow-burn feminist drama about a housewife trapped in an abusive marriage who turns to witchcraft. He notes the low production value and uneven acting, but calls Romero's take on feminism boldly progressive for its time. For business readers, the film illustrates how a mis-marketed title can find a second life through restoration and streaming distribution.