The Winter Witch

Yeah, I hadn't even heard about this 2022 horror movie titled "The Winter Witch" when I stumbled upon it here in 2023, but I have to say that the movie's cover definitely seemed interesting. And it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen was essentially sufficient to make me sit down and give the movie a chance.

And talk about a swing and a miss from writer and director Richard John Taylor. I managed to endure 41 minutes of the 82 minute, so I made it halfway through, and then I tossed the towel in the ring. In those excrutiatingly long 41 minutes nothing happened in the narrative. I kid you not when I say nothing, I mean that literally. It was just some girls sitting around talking without much of any gusto and without anything interesting to talk about. So I just gave up.

The acting in the movie, at least in the 41 minutes that I suffered through, was nothing noteworthy. I wasn't the least bit impressed by what I witnessed.

As for "The Winter Witch" being a horror movie? Well, in the 41 minutes I sat through there wasn't a shred of anything even close to resembling horror, unless you count utter pointlessness and boredom as being horror.

This movie is not something I would recommend for horror fans to waste their time, money or effort on. Some of us suffered through this ordeal, in some or full extend, so you don't have to. And believe you me when I say that I am not returning to attempt watching the last half of "The Winter Witch".

The movie's cover was actually the best thing about this movie.

My rating of "The Winter Witch" from writer and director Richard John Taylor lands on a one out of ten stars.

Well, aside from the decent cameraman shooting scenes of a beautiful autumnal woodland... this film was shocking.

The title and image were enough to lure this horror fan in, being a lover of B movies I was enchanted with the first 5 minutes. (Lovely opening tune).

SWITCH OFF at this point I beg you!

In my partners humble opinion, the end credits were a welcome relief and the best part of the film. He managed to put 4 loads of washing on, iron in another room and cook dinner (what a guy), hollering the occasional "have I missed anything"? To which I always replied, "no".

There was no story, appalling acting and terrible narrative. How do these films get made and endorsed? Fair play for trying but stick with restaurants eh?

The locations and cinematography are excellent, with establishing scenes often shot through a slight misty autumnal haze, which is very effective. The acting is mixed - some lines are garbled on occasion, but what lets this down is the lack of incident in a very dull and uneventful story.

There is a lot of dialogue issued from curiously underwritten characters. For example, the estranged Frank (Jimmy 'The Bee' Bennett - also the film's location manager) is treated with contempt by former partner Ingrid (Rose Hakki) and admits he deserves such treatment, but it's never explained why. From the evidence onscreen, he seems a fairly decent character. Cult actress Rula Lenska is Omi, and it is to her we return during the course of the film where she is given reams of static exposition to unload.

This is a real shame as much of the production is really good. The pace is leaden, any frights are few and far between. It's not really a spoiler to say that we do see the witch from the title ... for a total of about ten seconds, mainly in the anti-climactic finale.

Director and writer Richard John Taylor has helmed a number of productions, many of them gangster yarns (starring the late Leslie Grantham, to whom the production company - Hello Princess - is dedicated). A strong co-writer or script editor would do wonders for future endeavours. A real mixed bag; my score is 4 out of 10.

Taking on a new job, a reporter and her friend head back to her ancestral house to look into a series of strange child killings that are taking place in the area, and when she finds it's the returning Winter Witch that her family has dealt with before must find out how to stop the rampage.

This was a rather disappointing and underwhelming genre effort. One of the film's positive points comes from the solid enough setup that allows for the titular witch to get loose and run rampant. The central idea of the series of attacks carried out by the witch against the family in he past and her quest to stop it from continuing makes for a traditionally worthwhile if convoluted tale here as the idea of her being released at the center of everything happening in the town creates some intriguing enough setup that allows for a bit of atmospheric touches to occur in the final confrontation in the woods. It's all decent enough and has enough going on to be an enjoyable touch to end this on the best note it can. There are some big issues with this one that hold it down. The most glaring factor here is the absolutely banal and just plain dreadful pace that saps anything gathered here in terms of potentially exciting action right out of the film from the very beginning. Realizing that the entire film consists of endless banter between the sisters and the residents of town about the history of the area and the witch's purpose for returning, it's got nothing resembling action or thrills at all in the first hour as the witch isn't even on-screen until the final few minutes is just plain dreadful to sit through. That's not helped at all by the lack of emotion or urgency that takes place, so it all comes off even more devoid of energy than it already was. The other big factor to get over with this one is the confusing narrative that takes place throughout here. Early on we get an idea of the witch running wild through the area as there's a massive speech about the origins of the best and what's going on, yet none of it makes any sense or adds to the coherence of the storyline by trying to tie the purpose of her return to the village, what the confines of the curse mean, or why it's even returning now. Nothing in here comes together into any kind of linear throughline for what's going on, and with the attempts to explain anything cluttered up by plot points that don't need to be included, it's a potentially intriguing setup that doesn't mean much. Combined with the cheap feel and tone here, it has a lot of factors to get over.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

I recently watched the UK film 🇬🇧 Winter Witch (2022) on Tubi. The storyline follows a journalist and her daughter as they return to the journalist's hometown to write an article about a legendary witch, rumored to have killed seven people. Just as they arrive, murders begin happening around town. The question is, can the journalist solve the mystery before she or her daughter becomes the next victim?

Written and directed by Richard John Taylor (Vengeance), the film stars Rula Lenska (Queen Kong), Paul Hughes (Us or Them), Ryan Noir (Ballistic), and Jimmy "The Bee" Bennett (Dead Again).

While Winter Witch has horror elements, it often feels more like a family drama with dark undertones. The settings and backdrops are well-chosen, and the acting is decent, but the film consistently fails to deliver anything truly sinister or frightening. Moments that seem like they're building up to something eerie are often followed by a quick pan to the woods with spooky music, and that's about it. It's disappointing because there are subplots with potential that, if better developed, could have made the film worthwhile.

In conclusion, Winter Witch doesn't offer much in terms of redeeming qualities. I'd rate it a 2/10 and recommend skipping it.