Day 50: The Witch (2015)

There hasn’t been a movie that I had been looking so forward to seeing than this week’s release of Salem Witch Trials period piece The Witch. Being from Massachusetts, it’s one of the most interesting tales and stories that you hear about growing up. For a family living in a time when accusations are running rampant all over New England, they move to a new area to start a new life. Things begin to take a nasty toll for the family when the youngest child is kidnapped while the oldest was supervising the child. Right after the events, things take a nasty toll as the family begins to fall apart as they are being haunted by the idea of witchcraft and possession. The film was based off of old Salem 1600’s folklore that surrounded that time period. The film stars Anya Taylor Joy (Vampire Academy) as Thomasin, Ralph Ineson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One) as William, Kate Dickie (Prometheus) as Katherine, Harvey Scrimshaw (Oranges And Sunshine) as Caleb,  Ellie Grainger (The Village) as Mercy, Lucas Dawson as Jonas, Bathsheba Garnett (Mean Girls) as The Witch, Sarah Stephens as The young Witch, and the film was written and directed by Robert Eggers.

Stephen King was quoted as saying, “The Witch scared the hell out of me. And it’s a real movie, tense and thought-provoking as well as visceral.” Just what in the hell was Stephen King talking about or seeing when he said that. I wondered if we were watching the same movie? Was the film thought provoking? Sure I guess at times it could have been, but where were all the scary parts that scared the hell out of him? The film is basically 1600’s fan fiction come to life on the big screen in a film that is just flat out boring. There were no jump out of your chair scenes as the film was mainly psychological. The one thing I can say about the film that was positive was the fact that the acting was absolutely superb. They made you believe that you were in the 1600’s with the hard to understand old English language and they made you believe that the family was falling apart due to paranoia. This was a film that you legit could end up walking out on if you’re not a completest like me so you know I stuck around for the whole film. To me the last five to ten minutes of the film was the most exciting part of the film when all of the good stuff started to happen. If you want suspense then watch the trailer and save yourself the time because all the good stuff is in that. The film did not live up to the hype in my opinion. That is why I am going to give the film a D+/C- (right on the borderline) and I’m doing so because of the costumes and the acting. Other than that, it doesn’t deserve a higher grade. Watch the film at your own risk!