‘House Of The Witch’ Insider Movie Review
What not to do on Halloween… Go to an abandoned haunted house with a group of your friends!
I watched this movie with little expectation of finding it any good.
This very low budget production had a very limited theatrical release and had received mostly negative reviews. And it is never a good sign when no one you know has ever heard of it either.
Anyway the title of the movie, really tells you what to expect. But just to elaborate a bit further without not giving too much away. It’s about an abandoned haunted mansion that is home to a long dead demonic witch.
And of course a group of teenagers decide on Halloween to head-up there with the inevitable and always predictable dire consequences.
Breaking it all down
I’ll be completely honest…
I ended up being really pleasantly surprised. Though it was not great-great, it was enjoyable enough (as much as a horror movie can be, cough cough), with a few really good points to its credit.
The actual filming and camera shots are good and well thought out. With good, atmospheric music thrown in at just the right time to get the mood going.
Though at first I was concerned the isolated haunted mansion itself, when first seen in daylight looked so dull and unimpressive. In fact it looked so forgettable, that I was almost put off the movie completely at this stage. But at night time the mansion transforms itself very convincingly into a place of evil and menace.
The characters and their dialogue are appealing and flows along nicely, with some funny one liners, like when one of the group comments on his friend’s halloween costume by saying:
“You look like a pirate who just been banged by a woodland elf’.
You cannot help but smile :)
Though the problem with this movie like in so many before it, it is of uneven quality. The first half is interesting, suspenseful, even at times scary and gripping. It sets the scene nicely for a terrifying encounter with the witch and all her evil.
But sadly, the second half just becomes a seemingly futile fight as the witch slaughters the group one by one.
Thankfully, the second half goes along at a decent pace and kept me engaged enough to be both a little interested and care about the dwindling band of youngsters. As one of them rightly says, it’s not like Scooby friggin Doo!
Essential Movie Details
By the way… did you know?
- The movie was originally going to be called The Wiccan, but it was felt this made little sense as there was no real link to paganism portrayed in the movie.
- As of summer 2020, no plans for a sequel have yet to be announced.
- It took just $47,000 on its limited theatrical release, compare this to the supernatural clown horror movie It, that was released the same year. This took 2,600 times (or $123 million) more than this in just its first weekend of release!
- The song played on the gramophone in the movie is called Cross My Heart and Hope to Die and was written in 1917.
In The End
So does it redeem itself at the end or gets lazy with a cop-out ending?
Well, a bit of both if I am honest. The obligatory twist at the end is predictable, but not half bad. And one suspects it was done that way to pave the way for a sequel if necessary.
To conclude, if you were one of the very few to have paid top dollar to watch this movie at the theatre, you’ll probably have a right to be a bit disappointed with it.
But if you caught it online on the fly, it’s a fairly enjoyable way to pass one and a half hours of your time. Other horror films you might also prefer:
- The Blair Witch Project (1990): The phenomenal classic supernatural tale of a group of film-making students lost in a vast forest and end up being taunted by a legendary witch. Truly terrifying!
- Hansel & Gretel- Witch Hunters (2013): The stylish and enjoyable tale about a pair witch hunters, is witty, with top notch special effects and some great one liners. Probably the one thing it lacks is it is not particularly scary, but it can be forgiven for this as it is such a likeable adventure.
- The Witch (2015): This 17th Century period based horror movie, examines the evil that dwells in a sinister dark forest and the paranoia and terror it brings to a local family.
Where to Watch
Ready to watch House Of The Witch online free after our IMDB, Wiki & Rotten Tomatoes style movie review? Well, instead of hitting up Netflix, Reddit, 123movies, Prime or Putlocker for House Of The Witch streaming, just visit us at Homestream.
You’ll get House Of The Witch explained at Homestream. You can read House Of The Witch quotes, scripts and reviews. You’ll see House Of The Witch cast, release date and trailers. If you liked this article please follow us on Medium for more in-depth movie reviews!
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Ashley Mills grew up in Nevada and graduated with a degree in government from UNLV. After working at Final Cut Magazine as an editorial assistant, she became a freelance writer in California, where she eventually began to write about movies for the Arts & Leisure section of major publications.
In 2015 she became the movie critic at the a popular Northeastern newspaper, where she stayed for nearly two years before moving to Delaware to be the movie critic at a local newspaper. She left in 2019 and began working at Homestream. She writes entertainment pieces on movies, television shows and popular culture.
You can connect with Ashley on Homestream’s Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or by visiting our website.
