I love me a good witch flick, especially over the long holiday weekend…but did I get any witchy satisfaction from this triple feature? Let’s find out.
BEEZEL (2024)
I was psyched to see Beezel, especially since it’s Halloween season. I’ll say right off the bat that the witch herself doesn’t disappoint…what little of her we see.
The film is almost like a horror anthology. Its works as a series of vignettes about a family whose home has a witch in the basement. Each new generation must make sure to “feed her” in order to keep their cherished home. Eek!
Each short tale jumps to a different decade and features a story of someone encountering the witch. There are some great, frightening moments in most segments, but the film begins to rely way too much on dream sequences to deliver cheap scares instead of letting the witch materialize more in the reality of each situation. So frustrating.
On top of that, the final segment is way too long, the main female character is so damn annoying, and there’s little in the way of a climax. I mean, who can climax when this happens?
With Beezel being as freaky as she is and making terrifying appearances in the dream sequences, it’s a shame that she wasn’t exploited to full effect.
This film easily could have delivered the goods in the final act like Barbarian did, but it is disappointingly underwhelming instead.
HEIR OF THE WITCH (2023)
Victoria U Bell writes, directs, and stars in this atmospheric witch movie that, unfortunately, relies way too much on visions and nightmares to deliver its creepiest moments.
Our main character is a seamstress struggling to fit in with a circle of snooty upper class women. Instead, she makes matters worse by having a love affair with the husband of one of the women.
Meanwhile, she’s caring for her ailing grandmother while learning more about a family witch curse she’s trying to fend off, but the curse seems determined to ruin her.
There are some great witchy moments here, as well as some disturbing and gory moments, leading to the darkest plot line of the film—a witch’s attempt to steal a baby…that’s still in the womb. Eek!
WITCH (2024)
Maybe if you liked the period piece The Witch you’ll like Witch. I’m not sure, because I couldn’t stay focused on either of them enough to tell if they’re similar.
The basic plot is that a woman is accused of witchcraft (by a freaky looking girl who claims the woman is her mother), so the woman and her husband have to hunt down the actual witch.
Don’t expect any witch thrills. This is all talk and very little action, and you won’t find much in the way of horror except for one scene of a young woman walking around carrying two heads—which is spoiled on the poster art. Staring at the poster art is more exciting than sitting through the movie.
