Review of The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976) by Matt L — 23 Feb 2007

Emotionally scarred by an abusive upbringing, Molly's (Perkins) already frayed mental health begins to completely unravel when she begins to fantasize about the grisly deaths of local young men. Visions which are undoubtedly antagonised by her consumption of an intoxicating cocktail of alcohol and pills. However, when two American Football stars wind up murdered, she is uncertain whether those vivid images really are just confined to her imagination.

An almost unpalatable blend of art-house pretension, exploitation shock tactics and possibly one bad acid trip too many, the Witch is an "unique" title which, despite its flaws, is worth watching soley for the sterling performance provided by Millie Perkins. Her rather uncomfortable portrayal of a young woman teetering on the brink of psychological collapse helps save the film from being lost in an untelligible mish-mash of psychosexual babble and fractured structuring. That said there is something about the film's unconventional nature that keeps you watching and would no doubt require a repeat viewing in order to dig a little deeper.

Banned by the BBFC during the infamous "Video Nasty" period, The Witch for the most parts is more psychological horror than splatter-fest. I'm assuming it was the sexual nature of the violence and the rather disturbing child abuse sequences that rankled the censors, the latter scenes are perhaps a little to close to the bone and will shock even the most ardent cult film fan. That said those expecting some kind of blood frenzied slasher flick will be disappointed. If you are someone who likes to stray into the more obscure regions of American cinema then this is certainly worth a rent.