Las brujas de Zugarramurdi

A Spanish horror-comedy in which a group of bank-robbers stumble into a witch coven. Hijinks ensue, comedy is had. The theme of this one is about how the robbers (all men) have woman issues and have all but renounced their kind as villainous, deceptive and bitchy (*cough* witchy--get it?) The witch coven has done the same thing (there are no warlocks; though one witch has a son she keeps locked up in an underground vault).

Some lessons are not really learned, and there's a hulking monster witch with enormous boobs at the end the men have to contend with (one woman takes their side, alas). There's definitely some fun to be had here but it's fleeting and I'm not sure it's anywhere near as progressive as it thinks it is (if it does, I don't know).

While I did like Angelina Jolie in Maleficent, there is a witch right here, that I'd die for. All puns and jokes aside though: This is a comedy and it does start with a Bang (not Carolina, a literally one) and does not stop from there. It works because it is funny, but in an adult kind of way. No joke or poking fun is too low to go there (and while I'm not a fan of "toilet humor", there is one here, that I think is really good and nicely shot).

It is predictable obviously, but the actors make the whole thing work and you will have "sacrifices" that have to be made (no pun intended), for the inevitable outcome. The effects are really good and while you might argue about characters and their moods, this all get "explained" ... at least in a fashion, that is sufficient enough for a comedy

That's all that should be said but... I'll say a bit more.

After pulling a jewelry store heist, a group of men find their route of escape leading them to an encounter with witches. It is nothing short of a rollercoaster ride that is hard to lose interest in.

I thought this has some great and pretty funny, moments. Comedy horror isn't really something I usually find much interest in but after watching What We Do In The Shadows, which I love, I wanted to see if I could find any other films that might be just as good. This is a film that kept showing up so I decided to check it out.

Horror comedy is tricky. You can twist things up a bit to add humor but if you go too far, it ends up being a cheese- fest. While this gets close to that fine line, it never went so far that it made me want to walk away from it. That's good so, I feel they got it right with this.

The acting is good, it is filmed and scripted well. Some of the special effects were the only issue I had but once again, it wasn't so bad I wanted to stop watching.

I say watch it if you like horror comedy.

It starts as a crime/comedy, but soon it turns into a horror-comedy. Villains in this movie are witches, so the director decided to start with opening credits made of pictures of famous "witches", putting together notorious killers and evil women from modern politics. Very brave and politically incorrect, he bought me already. The movie is fast, the story is original, humor is indeed funny, the effects are good, very much fun until the end. The big ending is a bit of failure, but the movie is overall good enough not to be spoiled by it.

8/10

Years ago I saw Alex de la Iglesia's film, Accion Mutante, and I really liked it, despite the poverty-row budget. It had interesting, though unsympathetic characters, whose antics were fun to watch and an amazing artificial world full of surprises.

Witching & Bitching is an absolutely terrible title for a movie. I blame de la Iglesia's unfamiliarity with English. In any case, it is clear from the start that Mr. de la Iglesia's style in this film is the same as Accion Mutante. He has his signature whacked-out, borderline insane, outside-the-law bunglers, alongside seemingly minor characters that turn into major pillars of the plot line. He has his lame running jokes that rarely work, but are somehow comforting nonetheless, and, just like Accion Mutante, the movie has enough plot twists for three or four more conventional films.

Accion Mutante kept you surprised every minute. Witching & Bitching (man, I HATE that name) can't do quite as well, because the title, as well as the title screens both give away the fact that, at some point in the film, witches figure prominently. I was thrilled by the fact that the film managed to mingle fairy-tale witches with earth-goddess shenanigans.

Some of the scenes were spectacular. Many directors, when they get money, don't seem to know how to spend it to get the best results. But de la Iglesia sure did. You got to see every penny on the screen, and as a result, this movie was, in my opinion, superior to my beloved Accion Mutante.

I love the way that his films attack both the status quo as WELL as the revolution. He subverts the subversives. His witches are (obviously) aggressively feminist, but it is clear that if they controlled more of society, the world would not be a better place.

If you've not seen Accion Mutante (which probably most people haven't), then perhaps the closest "type" of movie to Witching & Bitching would be something by Terry Gilliam, or perhaps City of Lost Children. If you like that kind of anarchic, fantasy semi-comedy, this might be for you.