Review of Witching & Bitching (2013) by Brandon S — 04 Jul 2014

A total hoot! Álex de la Iglesia does it again! Billed as a horror-comedy road movie, Witching & Bitching is a subversive and darkly humorous satire on the hysteria of women. Even if the setup of bank robbers bumping into a coven of witches sounds like stale B-movie territory, Iglesia makes the most of it by upending the horror cliches and infusing this movie with his very own unique (if bizarre) vision.

Iglesia is probably facing a trying time juggling the many women in his life, judging from the female traits depicted here - ambitious, irrational, emotionally complex, begrudging and needy. Plaudits of Iglesia will obviously try to read much into it and label him a 'misogynist' for the negative ways women are portrayed here. At least the tone here is zany, wacky and surreal. Even the big 'Man vs Woman' final coda is a wink not to take this too seriously.

Even if you get weirded out by some of the nonsensical fantastical subplots, you'll still be glued to the screen by the amusing and witty banter, especially between the bank robbers. They're so ridiculously over-the-top, funny and laden with pop culture references, that you can't help but guffaw. I wouldn't be surprised if Iglesia was on crack directing this. This is the perfect film to watch over midnight!