The Book of the Witch

Starts with an absolutely horrific and terrifying witch where the story is set into motion, slow building of tension throughout followed by a satisfying end to the nightmare. Especially liked the coloring of the movie, kind of grainy, dark, sandy... ominous.

For only a few locations, and small cast, the Director keeps you in it with interesting shots and angles. The story is not super easy yet not too hard to decipher. The two main actors bond together well as their relationship is developed in the opening scenes and you can tell they care for each other which makes the fear of something horrible happening to one of them that much more devastating. Overall a good job.

The acting was on point! The chemistry between the 2 leads was great. The witch was creepy asf and she also did an amazing job of humanizing something we usually deem evil. The visuals and score and audio were great as well.

The story was something any of us can get behind. A healthy fear of death, someone we care about deeply, a moral compass, a price we are willing to pay for something we THINK we really want. I think the majority of people have all of these traits and I think this movie does a great job of showcasing the eb and flow between all of them. The Book of the Witch is definitely one that shouldn't be slept on.

Directed by Joshua Sowden, THE BOOK OF THE WITCH is a solid micro-budget indie horror film that blends Western American folk horror, with supernatural witch fantasy. It oozes lots of dreamy atmosphere and great wide angle shots with darkened silhouettes of our characters, giving us this doom impending slow burning mystery. I was very impressed with the production and cinematography right from the get go, and all done on a micro budget of $12k.

Victoria, who is plagued by her fear of death, becomes obsessed with tracking down a witch and stealing her book of spells out in the Californian desert; to help cheat death and become eternal, but there's a price to be paid. Like a moth drawn to the flame, you already sense the impending doom that's awaiting like a well planned trap. The visuals from Joshua Sowden were created nicely and I really enjoyed the dreamy sound design too.

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed THE BOOK OF THE WITCH, and thought the cast were all very solid with their performances. Krishna Smitha was excellent throughout the whole film and her chemistry with Danny Parker-Lopes was great too. Despite some little issues I had towards the end, where I felt personally that the film may have hurried itself to the finish line, I still enjoyed the film as a whole. I also loved the psychological hallucinatory fever dream feel throughout the whole story in a way that reminded me of David Lynch. I'll definitely be looking out for further projects from these filmmakers in the future.

The Book of The Witch bookends an exponentially impressive catalogue from up-and-coming director, Joshua Sowden.

This is true, independent horror on a budget.

Included captivating visuals and set designs, poignant performances, and creative twists. Simple yet important ingredients to make a meaningful film.

Krishna Smitha, who plays the lead Victoria, carries the charismatic cast in this film with daunting doe eyes and a veteran touch. While the supporting cast behind her filled their roles respectfully, it's Smitha who chews the loudest when she's on-camera.

Victoria is a strong, emboldened female lead and stops at nothing while on a mission to steal and use a Witch's book which grants eternal life. Paired with co-worker August, brought to life by Danny Parker-Lopes, the two help each other find the book and chaos ensues, and boils to a toil-and-troublesome conclusion.

I knew nothing about this film when I noticed it in my Amazon Prime recommendations, so I chose it with low expectations.

I was delighted to find two main characters that seemed real and attractive, each with their own relatable fears and problems. Their parts were well played with credible dialogue and a convincing work/friendship relationship. The witch antagonist was well integrated into the story and scary in a subtle but horrific way.

I thought the two main location settings were well chosen, well lit and well shot. The pace of the film was steady but the tension mounted nicely to a satisfyingly horrific climax.

This was well crafted by Joshua Sowden. I look forward to seeing more of his work.