The Witch

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The Witch

Posted: 2/21/16 at 10:40am

Anyone else see this yet?

I thought it was excellent. Not quite the "horror" movie we've been sold, but a quiet, nerve-shredding study in Puritanical religious hysteria that has some pretty provocative feminist/psychosexual issues bubbling under the surface. It's also one of the most solid, self-assured debut features I've ever seen. I have high hopes for Robert Eggers's career as a writer-director. He took a period of American history that is all-too-often glossed over and makes it feel terrifyingly real, without pretense or mockery.

I highly recommend it.

The Witch

Posted: 2/21/16 at 4:31pm

With "The Crucible" about to begin again on B'way, does it cover that ground with specificity?

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

The Witch

Posted: 2/21/16 at 7:34pm

It is a bit like The Crucible reconceived as a horror movie. It's not scary but it is intelligently made and somewhat chilling.

The Witch

Posted: 2/21/16 at 9:23pm

After tepid feelings towards the last two hyped-up horror films--THE BABADOOK and IT FOLLOWS--I was pleasantly surprised by this. Yes, the hardcore horror nerds will probably be put off by the slowness of it, but I was quite impressed.

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

The Witch

Posted: 2/22/16 at 3:18am

I thought this was terrific. Deliberate, earthy slow-burn domestic drama with allegorical underpinnings (violence begetting violence etc). The cinematography was absolutely gorgeous.

The Witch

Posted: 2/22/16 at 8:48am

Borstalboy said: Yes, the hardcore horror nerds will probably be put off by the slowness of it, but I was quite impressed.

On the contrary, I feel that legit horror fans have been devouring it, as opposed to those who showed up for gore and jump scares and were disappointed

I also thought it was superb film-making. Slow and steady, uniformly committed cast (including the fantastic teenage/child actors), authentic sense of time and place. This one had me in its grip by the final act, and it was a potent, disorienting experience to say the least.

The Witch

Posted: 2/22/16 at 4:49pm

Auggie27 said: "With "The Crucible" about to begin again on B'way, does it cover that ground with specificity?

It's technically pre-Crucible, but feels very much steeped in the same paranoia and religious fervor. Though it feels much more breathless and heavy than The Crucible, in my opinion. Like if Miller had written it as a one-act, 6 person version.

The Witch

Posted: 2/22/16 at 9:00pm

Also saw it over the weekend and thought it's an amazing debut feature for the writer-director. Beautifully conceived and shot, full of sophisticated pseudo-Jacobean dialogue, great design, incredible cast, and food for lots of thought afterward. The basic idea that sexual repression can result in all kinds of insanity is one I can happily sign on to.

Cautions: Be prepared to have a REALLY tough time understanding a lot of the dialogue for the first half of the film-- it's not only a challenge wading through the archaic words, but the actors all have strong Yorkshire or Scottish accents, so it definitely takes some time to acclimate to their speech. Also, there's a bizarre habit of the soundtrack to load up on all those cliche horror clangs and bangs and creepy whispers offscreen to needlessly jack up the scare quotient. The effect is that the sound mixer (or director) didn't trust the screenplay enough to present it in its purest form. Lastly, I took great exception to the choices made in the final scene, something I don't think I can fairly discuss without spoilers.

That aside, I give it high marks, and hope it finds its proper audience-- a smart, theater-savvy, Shakespeare-friendly one.

The Witch

Posted: 2/23/16 at 1:14pm

"Be prepared to have a REALLY tough time understanding a lot of the dialogue for the first half of the film-- it's not only a challenge wading through the archaic words, but the actors all have strong Yorkshire or Scottish accents, so it definitely takes some time to acclimate to their speech."

I'll add it to my list of English language movies that I prefer to see in a Spanish speaking country so that I can take advantage of the subtitles.

#10

The Witch

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:29pm

I actually had no difficulty at all understanding anyone's accent. As long as your theater doesn't have crappy audio.

#11

The Witch

Posted: 2/24/16 at 12:21pm

I had trouble understanding Ralph Ineson. Not so much because of his accent, but because the audio turned his voice into monotone gargling.

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