The VVitch
[4K/Blu-ray pack]
I knew when I first watched the Witch that I was watching something special. A feeling similar to when I watched Mandy. There’s something to the feel and mood of the Witch that just immediately latches onto you. So often do we fall victim to the hyperbolic praise of movies that we forget that it’s what WE think that matters. It reminds me of the buzz surrounding Hereditary. It was already being lauded as the scariest movie since the exorcist and had a massive following as soon as it came out. The Witch seems to have passed on as a cult favorite which is much cooler, obviously. Not that it wasn’t a hit. It made 40 million against its 4 million budget so it did quite well. The Witch just seems to be a tighter script and more meticulously thought out in its execution. Writer/director Robert Eggers spent years tinkering with the script and trying to make the story as dense as possible in just 93 minutes. Also, he deals with a topic that’s very familiar to most of us and spins it in a very unique way. The Witch is just lean and dense at the same time.
What makes it such a great movie is that has all the elements of a good scary story. It’s a simple premise that keeps its audience guessing. It focuses on actual scary events and visuals instead of relying on loudness and jump-cuts. It’s shot beautifully and economically and perfectly matches the slow descent into hopelessness. It has a relatively unknown cast which, believe it or not, helps the audience focus on the characters and their performance instead of the celebrity persona. The Witch is just beautifully crafted and executed, especially when you consider it’s from a first-time writer-director. Robert Eggers put his heart and soul into this movie and it’s all on screen to behold, to great results. Now THAT takes true talent.
It’s so great that this underappreciated movie is getting a 4K release because it’s just such a great looking movie. Not that the blu-ray is chopped liver either, but it’s nice that the Witch is appreciated enough to get this kind of treatment. Included in this release is an audio commentary by Eggers where he talks about the difficulties of the scenes and the shots and really goes into the work behind making the movie. In addition there is a Q & A panel and a gallery. Not much, but again, the audio commentary is pretty great.
If you’re a horror/religious/historic movie fan then the Witch is the movie for you. I promise it will taste deliciously.
