Witch (2016)

Witch-(2016)
Witch (2016)

Witch is an unmistakably chilling British folk horror that sends shivers down your spine. Marc Zammit and Craig Hinde combine their skills to produce a piece that largely does not disappoint for its hype created by the indie horror community and also provides a stunning debut poster that brought much attention to it. 

It also has a myriad of positive reviews and good social media attention. The movie provides a glimpse back into the year 1575 on English soil, in a small town where our central characters young couple Twyla (Sarah Alexandra Marks) and William (Ryan Spong) reside. And yes, it is theatrically pleasing that the film begins at what is perhaps the zenith of the plot and then reverts waiting in time to go back to how things reached that peak. 

There is utter chaos in the once-tranquil village after the news of the murder spreads amongst the locals, and as expected, William and the other villagers find themselves at the mercy of the blame game. But this leads to a more watchable twist, which takes place during one of the Kingston trials this one in particular is dubbed the witch hunt, where the witch was none other than Twyla. Ever so capable, it was then left to William along with an elder man, who is also present in the scene, to prove her innocent, because in the absence of them, well she was bound to be hanged.

It would not be ideal to give away the film’s incredible twists, therefore let me just state how many shocks I came across and for the record how clueless I was while watching the film.  Witch being Craig Hinde’s directorial debut along with being a low-budget film is definitely a commendable effort. He along with co-write director Marc Zammit have made their work visible on the big television which is quite impressive. 

However, there are some areas that seem to be of limited scope for Witch and addictively cinematic such as the insufficient budget combined with the unappealing costume design that pulls the viewer out of the expected timeframe which is unfortunate.  Admittedly, I have to say when I started reviewing this particular film, it was solely because of its captivating cover image and trailer, therefore I was disappointed as the excessive blood that was so focused on during the release promotion was not well suited for the film. 

A multiauthored thick storyline based on folklore, fantasy, and other supernatural genre elements has greatly expanded the dimensions of the low amount of terror scattered across the screen. There are moments in the film, that seeing the Witch brings tears to the eye as it is a story of sadness, grief, and loss, and lets one ask how far one can try in their endeavor of bringing someone back. This adds to the gothic touch to the drama which the movie is and that is not a bad thing at all.

The movie excels at different visual perspectives and great color toning which greatly aids in setting a different tone for the movie. The vibrant sets aid the viewer in the pandemonium of the witch-hunting era where a lot of innocent lives were lost on pure hearsay towards the innocent.

Speaking of the viewers, this closer historical narrative is engaging for the viewers. On that note, Russell Shaw (as Thomas) does deserve mention about his performance as he did great throughout the movie and had a solid screen presence during a performance of an enjoyable character. He was enjoyable to watch.

Regrettably, the movie goes off course as it tries far too hard to tie up loose ends. The complex plot starts to alienate the viewer as it does not make sense. Holistically, fighting against everything twists the perception of characters, up to the point of robbing them of their depth. Most decidedly, several scenes felt overly conversational and dialogue-oriented. In between, it feels like too many things were crammed into the story and there were way too few opportunities for the characters to say something, other than delivering monologues which only stretched the screenplay further than necessary.

However, there exists, meanwhile, the potential for an unexplored dimension during the making of the film. Leave alone feeling content. In case the producers had to work on enhancing the budget as well as extra time on every detail in the script, Witch might have outshined the rest of the gothic horrors. The ending was hopeful and left room for a series, so I’m excited to see how these filmmakers’ careers advance.

Especially considering the modest curiosity Witch has inevitably stirred in the independent horror market, I am interested to see what the new writer and director pair intend to do next.

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