The Witching Season

When it comes to short horror films you never quite know what you are going to get, and to be brutally honest, many of the submissions we get at The ginger nuts of horror.com site are extremely dull and hardly worth a mention. That's not the case here.

James Morris presented us with three links, however, I would say on a technicality there are four episodes in the series thus far, as 'Lethal Repair' was from what I can tell, (and I'm sure they'll correct me if I am wrong,) the progenitor, a kind of 'episode zero'. Conceived, shot, edited, and delivered in forty-eight hours as Witching Season Films' submission to the Salt Lake City 48 Hour Film Festival in 2014. I found it on YouTube and was glad to have done so. ​ Shot in 4K, 'Lethal Repair' is slick and minimalist. Clocking in at 7 ½ minutes it is the story of a repairman who gets a rather unusual call out to fix a rather unusual typewriter. I have watched hundreds of short films that have taken far longer to produce with less pleasing results. What appears to be their first tentative step into horror filmmaking has just the right amount of story without being over-the-top.

Now that is out of the way, onward to the review as requested, which is in episode order.

The first episode is 'Killer On The Loose'. ​

As with 'Lethal Repair', 'Killer on the Loose', has high production values. It is clear from the outset that there is a very John Carpenter vibe about the production as a whole. It is something of a familiar theme, with, as the title suggests, a killer on the loose. The intros (used for all of their titles) are very clean, the score somewhat reminiscent of the Halloween movies, and the short itself is gorgeous to look at, mainly as the lighting and camera work is expertly handled. In my opinion, it is very well acted and could easily be shown in regular cinemas before a main feature. For me there is only one drawback, which is the twist ending. It has been done before, but then again, most things have. As with any slasher movie you know what to expect, but the fun is in going along for the ride. At around twelve minutes without titles and credits. It will not take up too much of your time and is good fun.

Episode 2: Princess.

​This is my favorite of the three episodes proper; it concerns an apparently single mother with a young daughter called Jamie, a house move and a box of toys left behind by the previous tenants. This is not the usual creepy dolls story, it is actually more a 'fluffy bunny' story. You will understand that when you watch it. As with the previous episode it has the Halloween intro setting up brand, the same high production values and so on. It is clear watching this that Witching Season as a production company is not a one trick pony, and that they are determined in offering quality viewing. One thing I can definitely approve of is that because they are not aiming at a television market each film is as long as it needs to be, so not poorly edited down or padded out. The difference is only a few minutes here and there but is exactly what makes a difference. There's even a comedy infomercial inserted for good measure, looks like it would have been great fun to film. Of particular note in 'Princess' is the little girl 'Jamie' (played by Emily Broschinsky,) she does an excellent job, her overall innocence shining through, making the ending a double whammy that is truly effective.

Episode 3: Not Alone.

Something a little different with the third episode as 'Not Alone' is an alien abduction story. Kyle awakens from one sort of nightmare, finding himself confronted by a much worse one. The initial radio voice-over has a fun little reference to 'Princess', which turns to static as Kyle's bedroom starts shaking. What the hell is that thing standing in the corner of the room? Kyle is about to find out in an extremely clever twist of expectations. It actually made me laugh aloud, but then the atmosphere changed... It is around seven minutes without titles, well worth watching. ​

Described by James Morris as something like "Goosebumps for adults," I can see Witching Season productions becoming very popular, and with episodes four and five in the pipeline I am looking forward to seeing what they will come up with next.

The Witching Season series certainly was low, budget, and the acting clearly was not the best, but the Halloween atmosphere and ambiance were top notch. While I'm usually more critical of these type of movies, especially in the Halloween anthology genre, I not only give The Witching Season a pass, but also an "A" for Halloween effort. Also most other offerings in the Halloween anthology genre are just so bad and I absolutely include Trick R Treat (2007) when I say that, so you can hate me now, it only fuels my Halloween spirit.

While The Witching Season series is slightly mundane and a little vanilla, it's got a dash of pumpkin spice on it that makes it palatable. Being that it is a little mild and lacks absurd amounts of gore and jump scares that many bad Halloween movies suffer from, it's almost able to be recommended as a spooky Halloween genre series that you can watch with the whole family. This actually improved the rating on my opinion. Broader audience. It's also quick. Thankfully it doesn't drag out too long. Each episode gives you a little spooky ambiance and an idea of a Halloween scare and then politely excuses itself so you don't have time to examine and belabor it's shortfalls. Additionally The Witching Season opening credits of each episode are spot on dripping with Halloween nostalgia feels.

Episode 1: Killer on the Loose: Friday the 13th (Jason Vorhees) style hockey mask, Halloween ambiance, color, lighting, Halloween Valentine rose, and a little twist surprise ending.

Episode 2: Princess: Child's Play/Poltergeist, nostalgic Halloween decor, Halloween chef cooking show, Bunnicula, and of course a little pumpkin spice twist at the end.

Episode 3: Not Alone: X-Files Maulder minus Scully, that deep seeded fear we've ALL had from the shadow of a coat and hat hanging on a rack... Or is it a psycho killer?!?!?... Nope just your imagination, right?

Episode 4: They Live Inside Us: Ok I really like this skit or episode, but unfortunately it got turned into a full length movie by the creator/director and featured the same actor(s) the full length movie of the same name is pretty terrible and boring and completely loses the abbreviated feel of the skit. I. E. This episode was great, but 'They Live Inside Us' should've remained just that and never been extrapolated out into a full length movie. I hope the director (Baliff) does not intend to do the same with the other episodes, or at least if he does he's really got to expand the ideas and character development. You cannot just take a ten minute skit idea and drag it out into a feature length film. Although he's definitely not the only one guilty of doing this (pretty much every contemporary "Hollywood" movie lately).

Anyway, "They Live Inside Us" episode: An anthology inside an anthology. Writer's block, Shadow of The Shining, still better than Stephen King. The abbreviated plot actually does a better job of explaining itself that the movie of the same name. It's a kind of a is m Romero and Juliet tragic love story and maybe a little bit comical depending on how bad you think the acting is. It's not really that bad, again mostly just low budget.

Episode 5: Is That You?: More Halloween 'Spirit Cooking,' unfortunately the debut of Count Spookula (I actually like the recurrence of these silly characters throughout The Witching Season Films production company, like the weatherman also). They also seem to weirdly cripple a kid in every movie, and that's before the Halloween violence begins. This episode stand alone was a bit of a lame duck to end on but supported by the build up of the rest it was a noble enough effort and fits well into the cadre.

There are subtle nods and hints of cheesy Halloween nostalgia and decor throughout and I love it. I like that they keep it contemporary and yet still maybe it feel nostalgic. This is just a really great movie to have on on the background during the Halloween season and you don't have worry about flipping the channel due to gore nor graphic violence no matter who comes trick or treating.

I liked the title and the eerie intro sequence but that was about it. This horror anthology is quite frankly uninspired "nostalgic" dribble. The stories offer nothing new, the jump scares are contrived, the acting is mediocre and the list goes on. Watch as the director throws every overused plot device in the book at you. A girl running from something evil (a common theme in this series) that has no obvious reason to exist and characters we know very little about or even care to makes this anthology nearly unwatchable. The only reason I gave this more than one star is because the cinematography is halfway decent and the score is pretty legit but if you're looking to actually be scared find another movie.

Im not really into anthologies but thought I'd give it a try. The witching season took me back to the good old horror scares of the 70s. Well done, plenty of suspense and scares. I quite enjoyed it

For generic, inoffensive, non-frightening Halloween boredom look no further. As individual youtube shorts these would be viewed as thoroughly bland and middle of the road, but as an anthology they're forced to carry their own water but are unable (Though Princess did have me rolling, I hope it was intentional). Even as shorts of about 14 minutes, they still stretch the skits to make something approaching feature length and it shows.

The intro credits are nice enough, and the music is a great Carpenter homage. The cinematography is uninspired and Dutch Angles seem accidental.