The Witch [Blu-ray + Digital HD]

Lysa Arryn and Dagmer Cleft Jaw from Game of Thrones are Puritans who have been exiled from their crappy village and have to make it on their own on their new crappy farm. The Witch is a horror movie, but not a 20XX horror movie like Annabelle or Paranormal Activity. The Witch is first and foremost a film and it also happens to have crafted story that builds tension and dread with fantastical elements; they didn't think of jump-scares and make up a story around them. The Witch has great acting, storytelling, and cinematography, but the pacing sometimes feels off as we rush parts I wanted to spend more time with and drug on minor details. The Witch isn't a blockbuster horror and if you aren't in the mindset to watch an actual film and be required to pay attention, The Witch is boring and largely uneventful. If you have the energy to watch The Witch like you'd watch something like The Shape of Water (the only comparison I am making is that it's not a "popcorn movie" but something more), The Witch is 90 minutes of edge of your seat uneasiness and suspense. The script and dialect are representative of the time, but in 2018 it feels odd hearing characters use a colonial vocabulary, but that's just part of the setting. The Witch is distributed by the same company that later gave us Hereditary, which is a better comparison to The Witch than other recent horror films.

I saw this movie in the theaters, it seems the general consensus is that most people don't get this movie. Teenagers were laughing because they don't understand the "horror". They cannot grasp a deeper evil in this movie; if its not a ghost or monster popping out they won't be scared. If you know the actual history of witches and such you will see this movie for what it really is. If you're expecting jump scares and witches like the ones in perhaps other horror movies then you will be sorely disappointed. I, for one, loved this movie from start to finish. It was beautifully shot, wonderfully cast, acted accurately, and made me feel everything I wanted to feel when I saw the trailers and got my first impressions. I love feeling absolutely helpless in the face of evil, almost like the final episodes of the Berserk anime. I cannot wait to watch this with like-minded individuals in my home. To those who reviewed this and felt nothing well, I don't understand why they watch horror movies, or any movies, to begin with then (perhaps I am overly sensitive?). You have to put yourself in the time period and characters shoes the best you can. -Spoilers below, please don't read further if you want to enjoy this flick from beginning to end- Some people say the ending leaves them unsatisfied, sure, the ending has a semi-slow wind-down but its not to a happy conclusion. Its a slow descent into the evils of the time period. It's not meant to be a high action battle vs good and evil. Evil won, it was winning the entire time and after the climax it takes its victim. It's meant to fill you with dread and make you feel helpless in the face of it. Bravo, I say.

Great film. One of the best horror films out there. Liked the setting and time period. Two thumbs up.

Fast reliable delivery, great movie

Good movie very creepy.

Anyone old enough to remember the old 1970 British Tigon film "Blood on Satan's Claw," and "Witchfinder General" will greatly appreciate this film. I'm not so sure a younger generation spoon-fed a steady diet of gore and jump scares on television and in the cinema will be patient enough to appreciate this film for what it is. I was ACHING to see this film in the theater and when I did I was so glad because even in the spaciousness of the theater, The Witch elicits an unnerving feeling of what I can best refer to as claustrophobia. I saw it at home the other night and it was no less intimidating. I think many young people watch a movie from a distance rather than allowing themselves to be transported to the time and place (and year) of the film. It's easy for them to relate to "the Blair Witch" film because it's contemporary and it's full of jump scares and jumpy cameras (which I find quite physically nauseating). Allow yourself to be transported to the time of this film and remembering your history you will be frightened! I guarantee it. The story presented here takes place in the early 1600's in what was to become New England. Apparently the film is based on actual documentation from the time and the dialogue borrows heavily from the texts of that period. It is not a piece of fluff or a schlock film. No! The family at the center of this film are banished from their colony of Puritans for being TOO severe in their beliefs. This means that the family will have to live on their own in the wilderness of eastern North America (long before there were cities, towns or villages). They settle in a sort of valley and build their home, but nothing comes easy for this small family. The crops fail and their children act stangely and because they are so very isolated from any other human contact, they get a bit of cabin fever. Then things begin to get really strange...... I'm not going to tell you more, because to do so would ruin the pleasure of seeing it. Suffice it to say, there IS a witch and the story is cohesive and well told with fine acting from all the characters. Particularly good are the husband and wife (you'll remember them from Game of Thrones) and the children....oh the children..... It's one thing to watch a modern horror film where people are isolated in the woods, but you know that all they have to do is get to the highway or the hotel down the road, or.....whatever.....but here - in the 1620's there were no roads, no hotels and certainly no way to communicate with the outside world - for phones would not be invented for almost another three hundred years. Finally, if you're looking for something that gives you sensory frights and digs at you because there are actually court documents (contemporary to the time) that support this story, then you'll enjoy this film. If you are looking for cheap slasher stuff or contemporary gore - look elsewhere. This is a film - of a type once referred to as "folk horror" - that will scare you silly, if you let it!

To me, this is how legitimate horror movies should be done. This is a movie that relies as much on the atmosphere as it does on the tensions between the characters and the story to move itself forward. So many horror movies now think that startling the audience and making them jump out of their seats over and over again should be the factor for what is real horror. In reality, however, that's all that is, just anticipation to be startled in your seat repeatedly. This movie cuts deeper than that and goes more psychological, more in the veins of movies like The Shining, The Babadook, Rosemary's Baby, and so on. In the 1600's, society wasn't like it is today. Religion and familial beliefs were very much paramount to how life was lived. As a result, anything that deviated from that was looked down upon. At that time, one of the worst things that could happen to someone was being excommunicated from the church, and anyone who acted strangely or different from what was considered the norm at that time were considered evil, agents of Satan, witches, and so on. Robert Eggers did a perfect job capturing that feel in this movie. He studied that time period to a tee and made sure the movie was as authentic to the time period as possible, right down to the dialogue. Really, ask yourselves, if the characters were all speaking in modern language, would it make sense? Or would it stick out like a sore thumb in the midst of everything else? The acting and performances, particularly from Anya Taylor-Joy, who I believe is someone to keep your eye on, Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie, are all excellent too. So much of this makes you feel like you're living in this time period as you're watching this, and that's rare in movies these days. In terms of actual horror, like I said, this movie is not concerned with turning its audience into Mexican Jumping Beans in their seats. Instead, it makes you focus on this family and how they are dealing with this horrible situation. Their baby has disappeared, their crops are failing, tensions are rising within the family. And normal life is happening to these children, like oldest son Caleb having feelings towards women, even if it is his sister, as well as Thomasin's own sexual awakening, which is startling and looked down upon by the family, particularly the mother. They have no idea what is truly happening to them, or why it is. As a result, paranoia and superstition take over. That is the real horror of this movie, and that is legitimately scary when you really think about it. Is there really a witch, or even a whole coven, living in the woods near the family? Or is the family just going crazy. As previously stated, the horror in this movie is the psychological fear of superstition and paranoia in a very strict community, as well as your own family turning against you in a time when there's really no one around to save you. That in itself is the real, legitimate horror of The Witch.

Brian Keene said: "The Witch is a gorgeous, thoughtful, scary horror film that 90% of the people in the theater with you will be too stupid to understand." I don't think people are stupid. I did notice that there's a bunch of single star reviews that complain they cannot understand the movie. Viewers and professional critics have said many times that this film is best approached without any expectations. And it seems that it was marketed to the typical Horror Movie audience, which is not a good fit. If you enjoy history, if you are familiar with 17th century dialect, if you appreciate atmosphere, direction, and cinematography, if you love deeply layered - truly gifted acting... you will really like this movie. If you can understand or relate to a stranglehold of superstitions and if you "get" the kind of horror that targets intuition rather than just your eyes and ears, you'll like this. If you are at least open to these things, and you never let your imagination outgrow the ability to scare you- then you should probably try this movie. If you primarily associate the horror genre with all the Blumhouse Prod. stuff and you spell your plural nouns with an apostrophe as well as an s, then you probably won't like this movie. You know the horrifying thing that is about to happen, and each time a horrifying thing happens, the aftermath that you see will kick you in the chest. But if you need it spelled out for you- if you don't like to wonder and question things and allow a film to haunt you after you see it, then this isn't for you. My experience from this film was that it made me feel like there was something horrifying just off to one side of the screen. I think that had to do with their decision to use a more narrow aspect ratio than today's norm. I also think that the vocals and violins in the score had a lot to do with it. I often wondered if there was some sort of infrasound used because of the weird feeling of dread a person can get while watching this. It makes you want to look around the corners and check for blind spots within the (both cradling and clutching) imagery. And the acting. Like a volcano of hysteria is bubbling just behind the eyes of the actors. Their regrets, grief, and suspicion heighten their fear. Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, and Harvey Scrimshaw are deeply skilled. Thoroughly convincing actors that had me invested in them through their entire performance. This was a refreshing and layered angle on the horror genre. People are going to hate it when it all goes over their heads.