Witchcraft 16: Hollywood Coven (2016)
** (out of 4)
The sixteenth film in the series takes an interesting switch and goes for the "movie within a movie" approach. WITCHCRAFT 14 and 15 are completed and in the can when it turns out that the director of those movies is a real Satanist and the special effects are actually real. It turns out the director has been killing off crew members so that his own Satanic powers can rise.
WITCHCRAFT 16 was shot back-to-back-to-back with the previous two entries and I must say that overall I was impressed with director David Palmieri and his screenwriters. As I've stated in my reviews of the previous two films, these actually look and feel very much like the original series, which isn't easy to do. A lot of films try to capture the mood and spirit of older movies but often times fail. These three recent sequels at least feel like they belong to the WITCHCRAFT series.
I really liked the new direction that this one took. I can understand that some might not like the approach but it was certainly a lot more refreshing than a typical entry would have been. The film opens up the door for a bit more humor as we hear various jokes about Hollywood and low-budget horror movies. Discussions like why men never take their clothes are in these movies is discussed and I'd say horror fans will get a small laugh.
As with the previous two films (and the entire series), this here offers up quite a bit of nudity and sex. The gore scenes aren't the greatest but they are a tad bit bloodier than most entries in the series. The performances are just as bad since we've got the same cast but I will say that most of the actors did much better playing "themselves" here. The film does run on a bit too long but for the most part WITCHCRAFT 16 will please fans of the series.
