Review of The Witch (2016) by Nolan S — 29 Mar 2017

Man this is the most divisive horror movie to come out in a while. I've seen it make both top 10 best and top 10 worst horror movie lists. Not just of the year, but of all time! Well, count me among the best, because I thought it was great.

It's the type of movie where when I finished it, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but I was sure it had some effect on me. The more I thought about it and the more I read about it symbolism and themes, the more I came to love it. There's a lot of talk about religion and belief in here, ultimately showing the purist of god-fearing Puritans going up against the devil himself. Maybe not that cut-and-dry, but under the surface that's really what we're dealing with here. I found that to be a fascinating study.

From a cinematic perspective it's also great. The actors are all forced to speak it old English with all its thine's and thou's, and it never feels forced, it feels like the way these people naturally talk. The imagery is amazing; I've used the term beautiful ugliness before, but damn, this movie. It also has a great sense of building tension, with an overall feeling of uneasiness that grows throughout the film without any real release.

If you don't like this movie, I totally understand. It's more of an art film with horror themes than a standard horror movie. If that doesn't work for you, I get it, and there's not a lot of people I know who I could wholeheartedly recommend it to. But for me personally, I dug the hell out of it. It was something strange and different with a hypnotic quality that sucked me into its bizarre world.