उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

I was expecting something crazy and wild, but it was just OK. It should have been ar least 30 minutes shorter because by the end I was losing interest.

The movie looks great and the "bad" 60s acting is fun to watch.

It's just too long, that's all.

It´s been said, "The Love Witch" is technically brilliant. The imitation of older genre films is perfect. It´s not only the visuals, the scenery or the costumes, the sound design is just as good and every single character seems to be taken from another era. Even transitions from scene to scene are excellent. Anna Biller has a complete understanding of the movies she wants to emulate. It´s almost witchcraft.

From a feminist standpoint, it isnt´t subtle. I´m not sure if it should be taken entirely serious. I find it deceitully simple, though, and quite clever but it does at times seem taken from another era as well. The truth is i don´t get it completely. This film, feminist or not, is certainly feminine. The most feminine film I´ve ever seen. It´s a woman´s art, a woman´s idea, a woman´s everything. It´s absolutely drowning in estrogen.

The question is, if "The Love Witch" was actually a late 60s film would it be any good? I have no idea but I´m guessing it´s irrelevant. Revivalism is a crucial element. It uses older esthetics to prove a point now. The comedy works better in a 21st century context. It might be too long and slow, I´d recommend watching it in the morning, not a popular time to watch movies but a lot films work better that way, and this is definitely one of them.

A modern-day witch (Samantha Robinson) uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in a tribute to 1960s pulp novels and Technicolor melodramas.

Making its Canadian premiere at Fantasia on July 16, "The Love Witch" swooped in to Montreal with high recommendations. Hollywood Reporter has lauded it, as have the New Yorker, Rue Morgue, Chris Alexander for ShockTilYouDrop and Jason Coffman for Film Monthly. With everyone who is anyone in the world of film criticism coming out behind it, who could dare disagree?

Writer-director Anna Biller knew exactly what she was doing when she attempted to make this a throwback to the classic sexploitation films. Shot on glorious 35mm, the colors are vivid and absolutely striking, both in the film's overall look, and in the costuming and makeup. The set design even captures what I picture the West Coast in the 1960s must have been, a world of witchcraft where Anton LaVey would have felt at home. (Some critics have grumbled about the blend of 1960s and modern vehicles and cell phones; I can appreciate their desire for purity, but that was never really the point.)

Although the art direction and cinematography are what capture the look, the acting completes that illusion. The acting is terrible, but in the most wonderful way. Presumably, the actors were forced to watch an endless loop of trailers for films from Something Weird Video until they mastered the stilted language and mannerisms. Although Samantha Robinson is obvious the star and carries every sequence, Jeffrey Vincent Parise (GENERAL HOSPITAL) as Wayne was really the high-water mark for over-the-top melodrama. All of the characters had something a little off about them to make them endearing. And I love that the lead detective in the film is named Griff. I'd like to see this as a nod to the films of Sam Fuller, though it's probably just a coincidence.

Not to sound like a carbon copy, but just as much as I agree with the film's praise, I also follow in line with some of the negative observations. Frank Scheck of Hollywood Reporter says the film "might have benefited from some trimming, with several segments depicting wiccan rituals going on a bit too long." Where I differ is that I would go much further on this point, as Biller's editing is the real downfall of the film. Presumably, after all the hard work of writing, directing and decorating, Biller (now wearing the editor hat) didn't have the heart to trim her hard work. And this is a real shame, because after the first quarter to a third of the movie, the pace feels increasingly slow and the film as a whole comes off as awfully long. A half dozen sequences could have been cut entirely, or alternately a solid 20 minutes could have been removed to pick up the pace. A film this brilliant and visually sumptuous should not be risking putting its audience to sleep, but that's precisely what ends up happening.

And that's the long and short of it. Whether this film actually has a feminist message or is a film for women as Biller claims, I couldn't say. But it is unique, and a ridiculously successful throwback to the exploitation films that genre fans (myself included) are passionate about. When the film opens to a wider audience this fall, I expect it will hit home with a wide variety of viewers and may achieve minor cult status. However, if Biller (or someone else) trims a few minutes here and there between now and October, this could go well beyond cult and be a mainstream hit.

Better than people give it credit for. Beautifully shot and acted. The late 60s' theme works great. You almost thing you are watching a film from that era. It has a little horror and a little comedy but not to much of either. The runtime could have been trimmed.

The first thing I have to say about The Love Witch is that it is one of the most beautiful looking new films I have seen for quite some time. Shot on 35mm it is sumptuously photographed, with exquisite use of colour and costuming throughout. It's a treat for the eyes, clearly going for the look of a film made in 1971. It achieves this very successfully, except perhaps for the presence of background modern vehicles and a scene with a mobile phone. Director Anna Biller – who also impressively wrote and produced this as well as scored some of it and made a lot of the great outfits – says that the film is supposed to be set in contemporary times but to be honest it never feels this way! This feels like it's circa 1970 all the way and, quite frankly, all the better for it. This extends to the acting styles, lighting and compositions, which all hark back to the styles of this earlier glorious cinematic era. Topping it off, there is some music taken directly from the 1971 films The Fifth Cord and A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, both composed by soundtrack genius Ennio Morricone. These bits of avant-garde mood music are full of tension and female sighs and really fit into the feel of the film very well. The fact that the music also comes specifically from Italian giallo films cannot also be a coincidence. These stylish pulp thrillers hit their peak in the early 70's and much of the visual feel of The Love Witch felt like it was at least partially a homage to the delirious colourful approach these movies embraced back in the day.

The story is about an urban witch whose ultimate aim is to get the perfect man. She moves to a new house and immediately starts ensnaring men in her deadly web. Newcomer Samantha Robinson plays the title role and she is very impressive. She certainly looks the part with her great outfits and outstandingly provocative eye make-up. Her performance is lightly erotic and humorous. There are in actual fact several somewhat funny moments sprinkled throughout the movie with all of the actors successfully contributing. Unusually for a film of its type, it has a feminist message interwoven into it. Biller made the quite valid point that if you want men to listen to feminist ideas in a movie then you really have to include them in a film that they are liable to pitch up to in the first place. To this end we have a film featuring, on the one hand, a gorgeous seductive sensual witch, while at the same time, some feminist theory added to the mix – so everyone's a winner basically.

It could probably be argued that at two hours it's a bit overlong. But I loved the ambition and, in particular, the visual beauty of the thing. It's certainly one of the more bold and interesting genre experiments of recent years. Clearly it is going to divide audiences, as it will be too much for some folks to fully get behind but I think if you have a particular love of the early 70's strand of exploitation cinema then this one has a pretty good chance of rocking your boat.

The Love Witch is Anna Biller's second feature film and my first time watching any of her works. The film is artistically spectacular - Costumes, shot making, colours, dialogue delivery - and original in scope. Biller commits to her genre (classic horror) and period-look (mid-sixties to early seventies, think "I Dream of Jeannie" or "Bewitched") and uses satire to turn the patriarchy on its head. It's a lot to try to accomplish in two hours. The film isn't without a few flaws. Sometimes the script is too thick and the pacing too slow, but overall, The Love Witch distinctively shines. Biller has a lot of promise as a director.

I fully appreciate the *look* of this movie, for starters. It's got the sheen of a late-60s/early-70s thriller mashed with an Italian giallo, minus all the blood and gore. It's very fab. And the performances, particularly by lead Samantha Robinson, are fantastic. Even the makeup deserves quite a bit of praise, it's so on point. Everything seems to be in place and just so, except for the plot. The surreal air that envelops the proceedings masks a fairly pedestrian plot, that of a witch who cast spells in order to find her true love, with the help of her cult, er, fellow witches, some of whom are routinely naked. Like I said, the movie has all the feel of a period piece, but there just isn't much there, and after a while the viewer may become as bored as I did. Which is unfortunate, given the level of effort and talent.

I slept on this movie for nearly 5 years and it kind of just blew my mind. To be honest, when it came out, I saw the trailer and thought it looked like uninspired, try-hard, throwback hogwash. I felt it would most likely have an empty plot and a poor sense of humor, but I could not have been more wrong. It's actually a complete genre masterpiece.

It's one of the most loyal replications of the editing, cinematography, aesthetic, and acting styles of psychedelic films from around 1963-1973. And it's lead actress Samantha Robinson is absolutely stunning, absurdly captivating, and her beauty and seduction bleed right through the screen. I guess writer/director Anna Biller did the majority of the set design herself too?! Everything about this movie impressed the heck out of me. It's a ton of fun. Wow. Wow. Wow.

I also think this is fully one of those stylish, dreamy types of movies that a lot of you will want to turn on in the background of your day to day life once you've actually watched it once and have fallen under it's spell.

I dont think i would ever expect to see a movie made in 2016 to feel like it was shot in the 60s. Even the quality of the movie felt like i was watching a movie from 40 50 years ago. I don't know a lot about witchtcraft and i've never been really interested in that but i really loved the atmosphere and the visuality of the film. The cafe where they went to drink tea was my favorite location for sure, it was like a fairy tale. I think there was a lot of remarks about feminism. If i look at the story of the film i couldn't really get Elaine's story and the movie didn't really get to the point. I couldn't figure out Elaine's emotions towards the men she was with especially to Wayne. And the scene with her and Wayne in his house was unnecessarily long. But overall it was visually satisfying. I wont recommend people to watch it for the plot tho. The acting was not so great either except the british girl. But afterall you watch b-movies for their weirdness,right?

I recently sat down to watch the "Season of the Witch" for the first time. It's an early 1970's film by George Romero that follows the exploits of a bored, neglected suburban housewife as she becomes involved in a world of witchcraft and murder. It was an entertaining slice of its era, and could probably be described as an early-ish feminist horror film. With it fresh in my memory, I was looking forward to seeing 2016's "The Love Witch" - directed by Anna Biller - which seemed like a perfect companion piece.

You could almost copy and paste the synopsis for "Season of the Witch" and substitute it for that of "The Love Witch", but instead of a suburban housewife, our protagonist here - Elaine, played by Samantha Robinson - is single, already a witch, and she wants a man. A perfect man. And she isn't afraid to use all the witchery in the book to get him, but things just seem to keep going wrong, and the men usually end up dead.

On its surface, "The Love Witch" is a throwback to those bright technicolor melodramas of the 60's and 70's with occult themes like those in Romero's film. I'm not familiar with her previous work, but one look at Biller's filmography shows that she's made a habit of paying tribute to exploitation fare of the past, and visually she nails it.

Shot on glorious 35mm, "The Love Witch" makes one hell of a first impression. The colors are vivid and absolutely striking. The costuming and makeup are dead on, invoking flashbacks to the 1970's more successfully than most films that attempt a retro look. The set design is wonderfully garish and when you realize that Biller herself did just about everything - from directing to writing, costumes to makeup, production design to editing - it's hard not to be impressed.

I was totally on board at the beginning of the film. Elaine captures her first male victim in a long-winded but amusing sequence. There's a revealing, groovy sex scene, but the immersion is broken when you realize that the 70's bush is missing. Come on, the pubic hair should have been growing down their legs like gnarled thickets!

And with an inexplicable lack of hair, things start to fall apart. The downward spiral begins.

You begin noticing the strange on screen mix of vintage cars and brand new models. Is this the 70's, or some bizarre modern visual pastiche? Why? Things aren't quite gelling together as they should visually. There are a couple of shots that make use of the style and setting laid out so well in the first 25 minutes, but you can tell the production is quickly running out of steam.

Then... it happens. The movie stops dead in its tracks for a long, drawn out scene of dialogue that does nothing to further the plot. In fact, at this point in the film, there IS no plot. There is no drive. The audience might as well go home. Everything creaks to a halt as we watch and listen to flatly shot, mundanely written yammering that means absolutely nothing to the story as a whole.

I wanted to get my scissors out and trim this film for Biller. Sure, she's a one-woman cinematic army, wearing all the hats in the production - and I get that it takes a lot of effort to do that - but there's a reason why directors and writers aren't usually given the right to edit their work. I know, you wrote and you filmed all this stuff that in your heart is great, but you need to cut it down to make the movie watchable for us plebs.

At two hours long, "The Love Witch" is disastrous.

The script needs to be firing on all cylinders for this to work, but it never is. The proceedings are completely witless and droll. As the film drags the audience through long dialogue scene after loooooong dialogue scene, Elaine becomes insufferable. She really is a wretchedly selfish and unlikable protagonist. Her stilted, sedate line delivery and bemused look are frustrating to the point of disbelief, and the people around her wander through scenes like denizens of a poorly acted dream.

Ostensibly, the film is about the hold that women have over men with their sexuality... but you know what they say? Beauty is truly skin deep and the old adage applies to the film as well. The appeal of the visual style wears out its welcome by the halfway mark and what started out as unique, vivid, colorful and endearing becomes ugly and distasteful. It's like eating too much candy - the first few bites are great, but after indulging too selfishly, you end up with a stomach ache, which is usually followed by projectile vomiting and violent diarrhea.

About 20 minutes from the end, when you feel like the movie MUST be wrapping up soon, you're subjected to another long, tensionless dialogue scene, and it hammers home just how much time you've wasted watching this thing. When the end mercifully comes, it's mind- numbingly (and I hate to use the word) pretentious, but would you expect anything less after all that?

Go and watch Romero's "Season of the Witch" instead. It's not his best work, but it's not... this.

In closing, all I can say is... burn "The Love Witch".

The Good: This is one of the most visually striking and memorable films I have ever seen. The Love Witch resembles the films of the 1960s and 70s, but not by digitally created film grain or anything lame like that. It's the set design, the costumes, the editing, the cinematography. It's the warmth of the film grain and the pacing of the story. The way the characters speak and act reminds me of low budget erotic horror films from the era. Every frame is teeming with color, interesting visuals or something to notice. It's just an awesome movie to watch from a style standpoint and one I'll recommend to film nerds for that alone.

Samantha Robinson is awesome in this movie; she's funny, creepy, infuriating, sexy...all at the same time. You totally buy her weird character from the get go; as odd as her decisions are, I understood why she made them, and that's all that's really necessary.

This is a pretty political film, and it isn't subtle about it. But, for once, I think this is an asset and demonstrates a good understanding of the mid-60s/early 70s. The feminist politics of the time were quite concerned with sex and sexuality and challenging norms in the context of relationships. The politics weren't subtle at the time, and this film NAILS that.

I also have to applaud this film's audacity. It's so weird and unconventional, that I just have to appreciate the filmmaker's bravery to make it the way she wanted. It's not accessible for the sake of it and avoids contemporary Hollywood anachronisms that we see time and time again about the 60s.

The Bad: That being said, this movie makes the unfortunate decision to effectively confirm that it takes place in the modern day. We see a character call using a cellphone, 2000s era cars and hear about "DNA" testing. Frankly, it sucks. The entire movie presents this odd revision of the past - where witches seem to be a part of society - and then just ruins it with anachronisms. I honestly wish they didn't do this, because I'm sure it took basically everyone out of the movie.

But this isn't The Love Witch's biggest problem. While I appreciate the use of an untraditional, dream like narrative, the film lacks the meat and potatoes of an impactful story. The plot seems looser than it needs to be, the characters don't seem to act quite right for the situations they're in, which can be quite frustrating. (I get this is part of the presentation, if anyone's watched a movie from this era, you know this is common) There are some meandering scenes that sort of just end abruptly...and it takes away from the film. Unfortunately, substance loses out more often than I'd hoped.

The Ugly: The Love Witch isn't for everyone; it has a lot of sex and nudity, a dreamlike vibe and frank conversations about men and women that may make people uncomfortable. There's also a scene towards the end that might...um...not be great for everyone to watch. But, if you're fascinated by the aesthetic of the era, want to see something unique and different, give this one a shot. We need more movies like this.

This is a difficult one to review because it isn't really a horror. There's nothing scary about it and I can understand that a lot of geeks out there rejected this throwback to the sixties early seventies.

If you watch it in that perspective then you will like this a lot because the way the cinematography was done is clearly an ode to those days. In fact, the score, the editing, the lighting, the colour grading the way of acting and speaking, it's all done in a sixties style. Maybe for some clocking in at two hours is way too long for some and I can understand that because it's all talking and talking. But it do offers some 'magick' when the witches arrive. It's so beautifully done and it all looks like a real coven. The nudity, the rituals, everything.

So if you are into witchcraft then this is one to pick up. If you are into very old horrors with talking and talking it's your stuff. If you think you are going to see gore or even red stuff, forget it.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Advertised as a horror/comedy but more like an amateur soft-porn without the horror/comedy or any semblance of an engaging story-line. I valiantly watched till the end for some kind of explanation for the decent IMDb rating, but eventually realised the ratings were probably just for the tits.

This is the story of a beautiful witch called Elaine, well played by Samantha Robinson, who uses spells to get men to fall in love with her but every time she finds one it ends tragically. Fantastic use of colour here, in particular reds, pinks and blues. It is also an homage to the style of the films from the 1960's of the likes of Hitchcock. Plus it does serve as an interesting insight to the world of witchcraft for those who are not learned in the topic, in particular wicca or white magic.And it has plenty of nudity. However, after an engaging first hour the second hour is unnecessarily long and sadly lets the film down.

First of all I must admit that it took me two attempts to actually get through this movie. Not because this was a bad movie, don't get me wrong. The first time I made it some 25 minutes into it before I had to leave it, as my wife wasn't impressed with what was transpiring on the screen. So I returned to the movie some two weeks later by myself, because I thought that the movie definitely deserved a chance, because I was entertained by what I had seen so far back then during the first round...

...And I am glad that I did return to watch "The Love Witch", because this is definitely an interesting and entertaining movie. I fear that this might be a movie that will be grossly underrated or overlooked, because it is definitely not a mainstream movie. If you happen to pick up this movie, you definitely owe it to yourself to take the time and sit down to watch it.

So "The Love Witch" is set in a modern age, yet there is something very 1970's about it, from the way that people dress, the make-up and the hairstyles. So was the movie supposed to take place during the 1970s or what? If so, then they sure did fail to get the authenticity correct with the cars in most of the scenes where there were cars, as they were cars of newer models. So was this set in the 1970s or modern age spiced up with that unique 1970s wardrobe? That was a little bit confusing.

Samantha Robinson was really great in her portrayal of Elaine, the witch character. She had a particular presence and charm to her which instantly made her the center of attention. Plus it really helped a lot that the costume and make-up department got the character spot on with the wardrobe and cosmetics. This was the first time that I got acquainted with Samantha Robinson and her talent, and she definitely seems like she could be very well on her way for bigger and greater things in Hollywood.

The cast in "The Love Witch" was actually quite good, and it was especially Samantha Robinson who carried the movie. But the cast in general were doing good jobs with their given roles and characters, and the talented performers were nicely cast for these characters.

"The Love Witch" has an alluring and very fitting music score that really accompanies the movie quite well.

Writer and director Anna Biller really had managed to conjure up something quite magical here with what she did with "The Love Witch". Ranging from dialogue and characters to mood and atmosphere, then it was all a great combination that definitely had been put a lot of thought and effort into.

The visuals effects in the movie were also very 1970's, having a very psychedelic feel to it, it terms of color, appearance and function. This was working very well in favor of the movie.

Labeled as a horror comedy, I somehow failed to see the horror aspect of "The Love Witch". It was more of a dark magical comedy of sorts - if there even is such a genre.

Being a movie that revolves around a witch who uses magic to obtain the love of men, there is of course some occult and supernatural aspect to the movie as well. It is done with enough grace and respect without delving into being too much of a focal point for the movie.

"The Love Witch" can be somewhat of an acquired taste, and I think that you must indeed have a love for the world of cinema to truly appreciate "The Love Witch" for what it is. This is not your ordinary mainstream movie by any means.

This is neither comedy, horror or romance. The plot is puerile. The acting is truly laughable. The lead actress is pretty while all the men are dog ugly. If they were trying to make a point it was as subtle as a sledge-hammer! Oh and someone showing up in a modern BMW was a great touch. I can't understand what possessed someone to release this turkey.

From the director of Viva, this has the same attention to period detail, with so much loving going into the interior detail and colour and the lavish costumes and make-up. I enjoyed this one but not as overwelmingly as the previous film. There is no lesser an affection for the genre, 60s/70s sex and witchcraft, but I don't think the genre has quite the same potential and the earlier sex and drugs homage. Clearly Anne Biller is totally fascinated with the period and whilst it would have been easy to make a comedy making fun of the films she has rightly resisted but we are left with something somewhat unfullfilling. Many have suggested this is too long and this may be so because without a strong storyline, it is difficult to get by, just on imitation and attention to detail, however successful. The soundtrack is great, much Morricone of course, and this helps and not least the fantastic performance from Samantha Robinson who gets it absolutely right in every scene.

'The Love Witch (2016)' is without a doubt a shining technical achievement, the visually stunning sixties stylings are a sight to behold and the general throw-back vibe is almost pitch-perfect. Sadly, the script and story are lacking, to say the least. That's not to suggest it doesn't have a point, in fact it seems to be making some sort of misguided commentary on gender and sexuality in several scenes that stop the 'plot' to become preachy. This is made more head-scratching when you realise that the 'satire' is supposed to be serious, with the philosophy of the piece portrayed entirely earnestly on the part of the director (who wore many hats on this production). The feature just meanders about for far too long and doesn't really provide much in the way of character or narrative. Thus, I was actively bored for quite a while. 4/10

I'm happy this time-culture clash exists. The Love Witch is a pitch-perfect pastiche of late 60s, early 70s exploitation movies. A witty examination of shifting attitudes toward gender politics, sexual relations and male-female desire from a vantage point 50 years on by a female director with an obvious affection/obsession for genre and a deep knowledge of the source material.

Visually, the look and feel of the era's style of film is perfectly recreated. So much so, as I watched I sometimes had to remind myself that this was made only last year in 2016. The occasional (and very intentional) glimpses of modern cars parked on streets, and characters talking on mobile phones were, probably, intended to shake the viewer out of that particular delusion. Perhaps, this was a budget constraint cleverly used by Biller to the movie's advantage, as self-reflexive moments like these seem to serve as reminders of the artifice of cinema and cultural style.

Although The Love Witch is a 'feminist' movie, it's not polemically scathing or mean-spirited. In fact, quite the opposite holds true. The Love Witch is gentle and playful; at times sympathetic and forgiving. It is often satirical and ironic and, on occasion, just plain bonkers and laugh-out-loud funny. The dialogue is suitably stilted and the cast's deadpan deliveries are in keeping with the straight/jokey dichotomy of the initial set-up. As for the design and look, Biller (who had several jobs on the crew) really does nail it. Sets, lighting, costumes, hairstyles, photography, editing, acting, story, script, soundtrack all converge and conspire to recreate several genres and sub-genres popular in their day.

However, ultimately The Love Witch is more than just a nostalgic exercise in style. It's a playful tribute to genre movies that actually has quite a lot to say for itself. A retro-style movie with more intelligence and wit than the films it lovingly emulates.

Love Witch is a homage to 70's sexploitation horror flicks.

There's nothing even remotely pretentious about this film. Its unselfconscious in its camp, cheesy, 70's style, B grade, sexy horror schlockiness.

That's not to say this is a bad film. Viewed from the perspective of a satirical take on mostly long forgotten, horror flicks in this sub genre, its actually quite good.

There's a polished corniness that can been seen in Love Witch. Real care has been taken with the puerile voice overs, the colorfully crude visuals, the over stated, heavily scripted, almost monotone dialogue, cheesy 70's set pieces and the films absurdly misogynistic tone.

Samantha Robinson is perfect as the Love Witch. She takes a role that's far from straight laced but plays it with such straight laced conviction, that it convincingly draws you in.

If you were not around in the 70's this film may seem a little inaccessible. That said, if you remember this decade, even a little and some of the truly awful, lurid horror films that came out of it, you may find Love Witch a chuckle worthy nostalgia trip. Seven out of ten from me.

This film had everything I love. A beautiful leading lady, spells, quirkiness and lots of colour. It could have been so good. The acting was so awful. We switched it on one night and actually thought it was a film from the sixties. We weren't sure if it was bad acting or tongue in cheek. I think that's where it's gone wrong.

"The Love Witch" (2016 release; 120 min.) brings the story of Elaine, the self-proclaimed "love witch". As the movie opens, we see Elaine, in a bright red dress, driving her bright red Mustang convertible, on her way to a friend's apartment (turns out Elaine's luggage is also bright red). It's not long before we realize that after Elaine's husband Jerry left her "I died but then I was reborn as a witch", and now Elaine uses love potions in her quest to attract Mr. Charming. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for us the viewers), these love potions are at times too strong. At this point we are not even 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first and foremost, this movie is nothing short of a labor of love from Anna Biller, who previously brought us "Viva". Let me count the ways: Biller writes, produces, directs, designs the costumes and set, and composes the original score for this. So yes, this is an "Anna Biller Production" from A to Z. Here Biller uses witchcraft and femininity to bring a visually rich, even at times over-stimulating, story about "women empowerment". Even though the movie is set in today, the movie's tone, style and overall vibe is deeply rooted in the 60s. The photography's color palette is deeply striking as well, where bright colors are jumping at you. I must admit that during the first 20-15 min., it all seemed like a giant pastiche or send-up of 1960s movies (not unlike the Austin Powers movies), but once you get beyond the initial surprise, the movie actually settles and is far deeper than just a joke or a send-up (even if you'll find that plentiful in the movie of course). Special kudos to Ms, Biller for the exquisite set designs, in particular keeping in mind this movie was made for a nickel and a dime (certainly by Hollywood standards). My comments would be incomplete without mentioning the outstanding performance by Samantha Robinson (whom I was not familiar with before this) in the title role. Beware: there is quite a bit of nudity in the film, so if that bothers you, you may wish to stay away from this movie. Bottom line: I can honestly tell you that this movie is one of the more unique films I've seen this year, but "The Love Witch" delivers, and then some.

I had seen the trailer for this, and recently "The Love Witch" opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended so-so (about 10 people altogether), but those who were there clearly enjoyed it quite a bit, with frequent laughing and hollering (especially from the women in the audience!). If you are in the mood for a truly unique film that is "way out there", if not beyond that, I might suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "The Love Witch" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

'Love Witch' is an audacious movie. A coven of witches dedicate themselves to giving sexual pleasure to men, in order to ensure true love between the sexes; but it doesn't tend to work out too well for the recipients. The film is visually rich, yet seems to take place alternately in the present day, the 1960s, Victorian England and the Mediaeval period; I'm reminded in some senses of Malcolm Pryce's wonderful noir-detective stories set in Aberystwyth, which take place in a similarly altered reality, imaginatively reconfigured from the real world. Kudos should go to writer-director Anna Bellin for bringing such a world to life on screen; and just as Price stylistically nods to Raymond Chandler, Bellin's movie plays clear homage to Hammer horror movies. Of course, underlying the absurdity is the fact that actual accusations of witchcraft were often associated with charges of (and fear of) "loose" morals in the female sex; and the real world is still very much one in which women are put under enormous social pressure to both express and repress their sexuality. Possibly, 'Love Witch' is a little long; for all its inventiveness, after a while we have the joke. But one has to admire its originality, provocativeness, and visual splendour.