Curse of the Witch's Doll

I went into this knowing it was going to be a low budget indie film. So all the symptoms are there: mediocre acting, cheap special effects, cheap set designs, amateur writing, etc. However, I do appreciate the attempt to make something great, and with a bigger budget I believe this could've been much better. Still, there are a few negative things to get out of the way. The actors are clearly trying their best, and they aren't terrible by any means, but it ultimately ends up feeling like a local amateur stage play. Also, I don't understand why this movie had to be a period piece, especially considering the budgetary restraints. The best compliment I can give to the flick is that the doll looks great. It's genuinely frightening and the CGI effects on the doll are decent enough, once again considering the low budget. I also did enjoy some of the music, and the story was at least interesting enough to keep me invested throughout.

All in all, if you're a fan of independent low budget slow-burn horror, you may enjoy this. Otherwise, you might be better off skipping it.

A young woman and her young daughter moved into a big mansion and strange things starts to happen, which all seems to connect to a old doll.

Curse Of The Witch's Doll is an odd film, it's set across three generations and arguably tells three connected stories. Trouble is they aren't connected in an interesting way and none of them are even remotely enjoyable.

We see a woman during the 1940's fleeing the bombings with her daughter, a psychologist with a horrifying secret and your usual ghost hunters investigating an abandoned asylum.

The one thing I will say is that the doll in question is genuinely scary, that thing is deeply disturbing which begs the question why they use a different one on the front cover.

It's about half way through when it all falls apart, you can pinpoint the exact moment. Don't get me wrong it wasn't going anywhere special anyway, but it was at least heading for something generic instead of the mess it wound up as.

Curse Of The Witch's Doll is notable only for the doll itself, nothing else is memorable or entertaining.

The Good:

That doll is horrifying

The Bad:

Cover art is deceptive

Falls apart irreparably

Poorly constructed

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

We need a spinoff from this with that doll, made by different people who know what they're doing.

A large part of me actually wanted to enjoy 'Curse of the Witch's Doll'. The idea for the story was so intriguing, it looked pretty creepy with a very unnerving-looking doll and the cover, while suggestive of the film being derivative of 'Annabelle', was good-looking.

'Curse of the Witch's Doll' was not a terrible film and had its moments and good things. Another good thing is that despite any fears it is not a carbon copy or rip-off of 'Annabelle', despite its deceptive advertising indicating this. Those moments and good things conversely were too few, and not enough to save the film from not doing anywhere near enough with its concept. A shame because there was a decent film in 'Curse of the Witch's Doll'.

Some of the first half actually was pretty good. There are unsettling moments, and a real creepiness and suspense. The doll agreed is genuinely eerie as is the music score.

Moreover, 'Curse of the Witch's Doll' has a slick, atmospheric and unsettling visual look. The acting is better than average generally.

There are issues with the pace though. Creepiness and suspense don't come consistently in the first half, there are dull stretches and it does take a little too long to get going. The characters are sketchy in development, and there is very little interesting or explored with the witch's character or back-story.

Do have to agree that 'Curse of the Witch's Doll' falls apart in the second half, where the creepiness and suspense is minimised further and things get duller, weirder and sometimes plain silly. The ending is one rushed and incomplete anti-climax, where it doesn't really end or resolve much needed questions leaving things hanging in the air.

Overall, lacklustre and doesn't do enough with the promise that it had. 4/10 Bethany Cox

This is the type of movie you get when on a limited budget. Not much horror for a horror movie, but more of a slow burner thriller. It is watchable and the 3 different time periods worked o.k. Acting was decent enough considering the budget restraints they had to pay them with. I'd say give it a shot, just keep in mind this isn't Annabelle.