Review of Witching & Bitching (2013) by Jason K — 28 Nov 2014

Lots of fun, but loses a star for its employment of godawful shaky-cam, pointless hyperactive 'fruit-salad' editing, over-reliance on CGI, and overlong running time (seriously, this film should've been about a half-hour shorter).

Outside of that, it will probably be a hit for those who love the early films of Sam Raimi and the like. The plot is simple: a band of bank robbers fleeing a botched heist are separated, and a small group of escapees end up in the clutches of a witch's coven.

As it happens, one of the robbers has brought his son along (it's his visitation weekend with the boy, you see), and the witches recognize the youngster as 'the chosen one'. A spectacular battle between 'good' (men) and 'evil' (women) ensues, and the film's relentless fast pace rarely ever lets up.

In spite of the slapstick, there is some rather dark material here, and the battle-of-the-sexes premise (seemingly undercut with some commentary on the Spanish/Basque cultural divide) might offend the more sensitive members of the audience.

But Almodóvar favorite Carmen Maura is on hand playing the head witch, and there's enough comic-book action and gratuitous gore to keep it from being taken too seriously. A rollicking good time for horror fans.