Witch-Hunt

I love seeing filmmakers faced with extremely low budgets figure out stories that can work within their limited resources, and Witch-Hunt is just such a movie. Wisely staying away from excessive, and expensive gore (if you want it to look right) and focusing on character and a twisting story in a confined setting, the film tries hard to succeed with severe restrictions. Although flawed with uneven performances and a script that suffers from not being developed enough considering the depth of the issues it addresses within the thriller framework - still, the filmmakers have attempted something that has more going for it than the average micro-budget zombie or slasher-fest. The story is clever and involving enough to have piqued my interest and to have kept me watching. It had me curious as to what would happen next and how it would all tie together and it's unfortunate that it doesn't necessarily accomplish that thoroughly or neatly (and the intercut sections with two ladies seemingly in possession of all the info we are waiting for are the most clumsy and clunky scenes in the film - although to be fair they are tied into the denouement, but that doesn't make them work any better). The actresses can go from believable to overacting within a scene which could be the result of less experienced actors only allowed a limited number of takes, or the less trained eye of the director to recognize when a performance is off. And it's a shame their characters aren't always believable in their interactions with each other - especially when things start getting strange - but that's a fault of the screenplay, not the performance. All-in-all a commendable but far-less-than perfect offering. It would be worth it if - as another reviewer suggested - the film was remade with a properly fleshed out and realized script and stronger talent behind the camera. But even as it is, it possesses a certain charm and the willingness to try and make it more than just "a little thriller" deserves credit in my book.

Witch-Hunt was recommended by a friend of mine who told me to be patient with it. With this as a preface, I found the film on Amazon Prime and, sure enough, my feet were shuffling a bit throughout the first 30 minutes, but after that initial climb of the mountain, things got better and Witch-Hunt turned out to be a surprisingly fun night at the movies.

The film features a group of elementary school girlfriends who show up at the home of a mysterious woman to celebrate one of their birthdays. They decide to play a game called Witch-Hunt that is supposed to turn them against one another and, soon enough, they start seeing and hearing things and stop being able to trust one another. Is the game really cursed? Is one of them an actual real witch? You'll have to see the film to find out.

Sprinkled with a generous helping of dark comedy and fun banter, Witch-Hunt probably won't please the gorehounds hoping for decapitations, but more esoteric horror fans will probably enjoy it a lot. There are a few tiny pacing issues, but they don't detract too much from the experience.

If your judgment is based off the movies budget, maybe reevaluate the way you view films. It's a great "whodunnit" movie & enjoyable to watch. But what I really enjoyed - this is a true story, their youth at least. The film is about a specific case surrounding the satanic panic. They did a nice job in exploring the effects of that abuse.

Aight... this movie looks like it was done on a budget of like a couple thousand bucks... with that said, I was pleasantly surprised and actually enjoyed it...

So...

I actually thought the camera work, acting, audio, and script were all actually above par and borderline quite good in some scenes... And while the movie starts off a little slow, the level of suspense picks up pretty quickly... not to mention the fact that the movie hints at all sorts of things, but doesn't give too much away... so again, the suspense / tension is certainly on point by the end of the flick...

I liked the way they hashed out backgrounds for all the characters... and broke the movie up into segments... not unlike a Tarantino film... ( like act 1 this girl / act 2 this girl / etc... )... Beyond that, I actually felt like most of the characters were pretty believable... 5 girls, having a little party, guzzling some wine... The conversations actually seemed very plausible...

The low budget does show in a couple areas... First off, you'll notice that the whole movie is basically shot in somebodies living room... Second, there are practically no special effects... so don't expect any kind of gore fest or flying witches or anything... But I don't think the movie suffered from being mostly dialogue / acting...

They still managed to get in some moderate scares... and a couple "oh, wow, I wasn't expecting that" from me...

So... is it really 7 star? probably not... But I'm giving a bonus point or two for taking a pretty simplistic premise and low budget and being able to ramp up the suspense / tension to better than a lot of other flicks out there...

All in all, this is what I would consider a really well done low budget thriller / borderline horror...

Going into this, watching the trailer, reading the synopsis, I thought it was such a cool premise. Interesting way to throw a lot of building, creepy tone and almost like a "who dunnit" kind of story, but of the supernatural kind. However, the acting was a little painful to watch and ultimately, the backstories/additions to the plot lines were cut so short, it all never really came together and the whole thing repeatedly felt unfinished. I caught myself saying "what, what?" more than a few times. I definitely enjoyed myself, but oh, man, there was so much missed opportunity here. I rarely say this, but I would love if a more experienced filmmaker took this, cleaned up the script and remade it. The outcome of who's the witch is also muddy and if they'd just taken another 5 minutes to tidy it up, it would have been much more satisfying. Worth a watch, but don't get your hopes up too far.