This movie is turning into this year’s The Babadook by getting a ton of festival buzz. Now, the most important endorsement has been nabbed. The Witch is being formally recognized by The Satanic Temple. Does it get better than official hype from “Jex Blackmore” the National Spokesperson for The Satanic Temple & Director of the Detroit Chapter? I think not.
The Witch is not only a powerful cinematic experience, but also an impressive presentation of Satanic insight that will inform contemporary discussion of religious experience. Yet, The Witch is more than a film; it is a transformative Satanic experience that, in its call to arms, becomes an act of spiritual sabotage and liberation from the oppressive traditions of our forefathers.
I like to imagine Satanist movie night is just watching stuff like “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Oh God You Devil” so good for them finally getting something new to pop in the old DVD player.
I’m pretty excited to see this when it releases in a couple of weeks. The preview has a serious sense of unease to it that seems like a great moody slow-burn of a horror film. I get shades of Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist from the trailer’s editing and imagery - I have a bipolar hate/fascination with that movie, but if the Witch nails the oppressive mood with a little less castration imagery, I’m all for it.
I was sick this past week and didn’t get a chance to go to the screening, though my girlfriend did. She thought it could have used a bit more horror… it was “a historical flick with a bit of horror” more than a “horror movie with a bit of history”. She didn’t really get into details so not to spoil it but there are other things she thought it chose which type of movie direction it wanted to go and tried to do both.
Your girlfriend is made of tougher stuff than me! I thought it was horror, through and through. And incredibly effective horror. This is easily as good as stuff like It Follows and The Babadook. I can’t wait to see it again so I can actually admire it instead of being crushed by dread and tension! :)
I saw a discussion of this movie on another forum that led me to do a Google search and the results included a couple of those Q&A things that Google does now. One of the questions was “Who is baphomet and what does he do?” So now all I can think about is Arnold Schwarzenegger asking that question to a bunch of kindergarten kids.
This movie is avvesome. I’ll definitely see it again before it’s out of theaters. I also have questions about it, so how long are we going to wait before spoilers? Man, I really wish you guys had watched this for the podcast.
Great, now I’m going to have that running through my head all day. “Who is baphomet and what does he do?”
I know, right? And not just for the VVopsis. But because I want to point out stuff like…
fauna spoiler
…that I never knew rabbits could look like such evil little fuckers. If I’d seen that in a script – a rabbit stares at them sinisterly – I would have thought there was no way that could work.
Just got back from this and need to let it turn over a bit before I say much more. Shorter: one to catch in the theater. With one or two exceptions I thought the sound design or however you might explain it was excellent. Mostly the right amount of soundtrack in the right places (my one or two exceptions being here), great use of ambient sound. And other sounds to, if you know what I mean.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance felt like a coming out party. But all the performances were excellent and it felt like I just watched four borderline amazing child actors. Which probably isn’t right - e.g. the twins - but the directing brought out the best in everything. Including the New Endland woods, or whatever was standing in for them.
This one didn’t follow the cat script thingy did it? Which is praise, of both what the genre is capable of and this instance of it.
In terms of theater reactions, the 20 or so people I watched the movie with didn’t move or make a sound for the first couple of minutes after the credits came up. I’m not sure how to describe the vibe in the theater, I’m not much of a wordsmith. I think the movie impacted everyone who watched in some way, which is pretty cool and it’s interesting being a part of something like that.
Agreed about seeing it in the theater, peacedog. A lot of its effectiveness is not being able to pause, make popcorn, check your email on your iPad, play an episode of Community in an Xbox One inset window, etc.
The twins were fantastic, but you’re right that much of that was in Robert Eggers’ direction. Among the glut of press the director and cast has done – huge props to A24 for how hard they’re pushing this! – I found this great piece about how he worked with the kids. For instance:
For a scene involving the witch appearing to one of the young actors, Eggers directed the youngest child Lucas Dawson through physical instructions, and never exposed him to the dark elements or witches. To achieve the horrified look, Eggers instructed him throughout the scene.
“I told Lucas, ‘open your mouth. Don’t blink. Just breathe. Breathe a little faster. Little faster. Little faster.’ To make him look scared. But it was just me, him and a camera. It was that kind of thing.”
However, I think Anya Taylor-Joy and especially Harvey Scrimshaw are really really good. Especially Scrimshaw considering his age and the scene…
not to be read by people who haven’t seen this yet
…where he dies. Amazing stuff for a kid that age. That could have been utterly ridiculous.
What’s the cat script thingy?
Stop reading this thread! Go away and see the movie!
So, a question, I have massive issues with scenes which deals with bad things happening to kids. Like the beach stuff in Under the Skin is still seriously haunting me.
I think so. Mind you, there’s nothing immediately gruesome, with kids being hacked up or anything like that. But this is not a movie that has happy outcomes for the kids.
