Witchcraft

"Witchcraft" is a relatively unknown underground horror flick. Though the film has been received extremely bad reviews, it managed to spawn a total of twelve sequels (to date, at least).

The plot of the film is similar to the earlier "Rosemary's Baby". Grace Churchill has given birth to her first child, when her husband temporarily moves them in with his mother. While staying in her mother-in-laws creepy, old mansion, Grace begins experiencing bizarre incidents that lead her to believe her new family isn't what they seem.

Honestly, I'm not sure why this movie got such bad reviews from people. The only real problem I found with it was the editing style - which gives the film the look of an episode of "Murder, She Wrote". The sets of the film are quite creepy. The acting (by a primarily newcomer cast) is good. The music (though performed on a synthesizer) fits the tone of the film.

All in all, "Witchcraft" isn't an Oscar winning film, but it's a interesting way to pass 90 minutes.

How many Witchcraft films were there? 13? 14? I don't know, but this, the first, is not like the others.

It is a repackaged Rosemary's Baby. and doesn't have the sex scenes of the later films in the Witchcraft series.

This film has all the elements you would expect in a Gothic horror film: a creaky old house, mood music, a scary butler, strange dreams, and lots of screaming and blood. And, we need to mention the creepiest of them all, the Mother-in-Law.

It may have been low budget, but it still was interesting and worth the time spent.

WITCHCRAFT opens centuries ago, with a man and a pregnant woman being burned at the stake. This is intercut with modern day scenes of a woman named Grace (Anat Topol) giving birth. Grace is seeing visions of the ancient couple's toasty torment, as they look increasingly like baked ziti.

Let's just say that it's a difficult delivery.

Later, Grace's husband, John (Gary Sloan), convinces her that they should move into his mother's big, spooky house. Strange occurrences start right away, with Grace experiencing dizzy spells, blackouts, and nightmares. There's also a creepy butler, and a mysterious, unused part of the house. Then, a visiting priest is reduced to something akin to a sausage left too long in the microwave! Could black magic be afoot?

Conspiratorial gloom settles in, resulting in further death and awfulness. Isn't this what all new moms hope for?

WITCHCRAFT certainly has that 1980's, supernatural movie charm going on. Though the cheeeze-level runs from medium to high, it's actually better that much of the straight-to-video sludge of the era. At least Ms. Topol is convincing in her harried role.

EXTRA POINTS FOR: #1- The sound effects during one dinner scene, making it seem as though everyone is crunching clam shells with their teeth! #2- Mom (Mary Shelley), who is so quietly malevolent! #3- The satanic "shock" finale!...

So the time has come for me to finally watch and review the WITCHCRAFT series that incredibly has created count 'em 15 sequels. After watching the original I am not sure why it deserved even one.

Its the story of new mother Grace Churchill (Anat Topal-Barzilai) who with hubby (Gary Sloan under the name Edward Ross) and new baby William go to her mother-in-law's (Mary Shelley...sadly, not the one who wrote Frankenstein) house to recover and regain her strength. Problem is the mother-in-law might be hiding some dark secrets.

In the end a slow-moving, not very original horror movie. Mixed with at times shaky acting (although mother-in-law Shelley does well in her role) and sub-par delivery. Maybe try ROSEMARY'S BABY or if wanting a witch movie try THE WIZARD OF OZ.

I have this movie on both VHS and DVD. They come with excellent artwork featuring a young attractive woman lay on an altar, a skull beneath her, and the film's title "Witchcraft" within a pentagram above her. A common case of great artwork but poor movie. Grace gives birth to a baby boy (that looks at least six months old in size), her and creepy but rich husband John move into his mother's large house. It is soon apparent that John has a very strange relationship with his mother, a 300 year old painting in which they appear together before being burnt for witchcraft is a major clue. For poor Grace in addition to marrying into an odd family the house also has a creepy mute butler (like large old houses so often do!). This is a cheap looking movie, I found the acting to be quite wooden, it's slow and predictable. There is some gore including a decapitation but the effects certainly are not very special. There is no nudity but incredibly this went on to spawn at least 15 sequels, these did feature a lot of naked female flesh. Witchcraft borrows from "Rosemary's Baby" to an extent. In the UK this is rated 18 but it now feels relatively tame and I am sure that a re-submission to the BBFC would result in a 15 certificate. Not many positives to speak of though Deborah Scott/Spera as Grace's friend Linda does look pretty hot in her tight mini skirts!