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 So who remembers during the Nathaniel Hawthorne unit of high school english class, learning about how in puritan times "the woods" were a symbol of the spooky unknown? That is this film in a nutshell, and it's good. To summarize the setup: a family is exiled from a puritan New England settlement and starts a homestead on the edge of  the forest. The dad chops wood. A lot of it. They notice that every time they or the camera look at the edge of the dark forest nearby, creepy ambient music plays. Then their baby disappears, and the family starts to freak out. There's also a black goat - that's probably no big deal though, right?First of all, it's an excellent, beautifully shot period piece of a 1600s New England puritan homestead. The dialogue was period-accurate which pleased me a lot but I could see it annoying some (subtitles wouldn't be a terrible idea). The way the house, barn, and fences were all built, the costume, the food they ate, the wood chopping... I'm not an expert in 1600s New England but there was enough attention to detail that I assume they did their research. Either way I found it very convincing. Second, and obviously the point of the film, is that it's a great ambient horror piece. Not a ton actually happens, but there is a terrific sense of evil the whole time. Much like the family in the film, as an audience I found myself constantly on-edge and scared but not sure what I was afraid of. The times when there is actual action, it is realistic in a way that made me squirm and cringe a little. When there is an actual witchly ritual, holy poo poo is it disconcerting. Cinematography note: the lighting and color balance stood out to me as particularly good. After the film, someone told me that apparently they used natural light to the maximum extent possible, which I think added a lot to the... primitive, squalid, inglamorous feel of the family's life. The soundtrack contributed a lot to the ambient horror. It was a mix of scratchy creepy strings, and discordant stuff that reminded me of Ligeti (the guy who wrote the creepy choir stuff from 2001). Oh also it has the breastfeeding lady from Game of Thrones. Anyway it was the best horror film I've seen since It Follows. I give it 8/10, with 10/10 for the wood chopping scenes. Please discuss.
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Feb 20, 2016 16:52
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Saw it last night. loving awesome movie. This is basically what would happen if a 17th century person made a horror film. The horror elements are not modernized at all. No slick, glossed-up XTREME effects here. It's all subtle and feels "real". They managed to use actual 17th century concepts of magic and, well, horror, and presented it in a matter of fact unflinching way. I suspect some of the curse elements might be missed by some people, because the filmmakers don't draw your attention to certain things. It's just part of the backdrop of the world in the movie. This is not shock horror at all. I wouldn't say it's even scary, at least to me. But, it builds dread little by little. To me a good horror movie is less about shock, but more about dragging you into dread, and this does it. One of my big criticisms of most horror movies are the endings. Many a great concept is ruined by the ending. Not this movie. It ends exactly the way it should, and it feels natural and right. One of the best horror movies in years.
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Feb 20, 2016 17:42
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Mithra6 posted:I suspect some of the curse elements might be missed by some people, because the filmmakers don't draw your attention to certain things. It's just part of the backdrop of the world in the movie. Could you elaborate (in spoiler tags)?
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Feb 20, 2016 17:47
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alnilam posted:Could you elaborate (in spoiler tags)? I really want to see it again because I feel like I missed things. Off the top of my head: The bloody chicken egg, the corn blight (I don't remember seeing this, but there should have been some blood in the field), the fever and convulsions of the children are specifically linked to curses, including the stomach aches. It implies they had worms, which witches would cause. Interesting touch of the rabbit, because it was a popular familiar to witches. Not cats as much. I think they were after the mother too but she was too nuts. The apparitions of the children said they had a book for her to read.
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Feb 20, 2016 18:10
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Cool, I caught the egg and the rabbit but not the other things. I wanna see it again too. There are so many cool details in the film and yet most if them don't even feel deliberate, they just feel like someone pointed a camera at an actual 1630 homestead.
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Feb 20, 2016 18:23
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That's why I like it. Stuff is just there.
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Feb 20, 2016 18:26
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As far as movies about new england witch magick go, it's up there with Hocus Pocus.
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Feb 20, 2016 19:42
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Buddy of mine had a real good theory walking out that there may have been some sort of cursed miscarriage or something going on in the film. It's unclear what the context is exactly, and whether the mother or the daughter is having the miscarriage, but there's just a lot of imagery that suggests that - dead baby obviously, the egg with the fetus in it, blood from the breast, etc. Anyone else think there's any credit to it? I wouldn't even call it a "theory", really, more just the bare bones of subtext that might suggest something. Aside from that, drat good film. Some real atmospheric horror that actually unsettled me. I just felt profoundly uncomfortable the whole time I was watching it.
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Feb 20, 2016 21:57
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DoctorG0nzo posted:Buddy of mine had a real good theory walking out that there may have been some sort of cursed miscarriage or something going on in the film. It's unclear what the context is exactly, and whether the mother or the daughter is having the miscarriage, but there's just a lot of imagery that suggests that - dead baby obviously, the egg with the fetus in it, blood from the breast, etc. If I remember right, the parents were having a discussion about shipping the daughter, Thomasin, off to work/live somewhere else because she was reaching sexual maturity, and then throw on the several instances of Caleb trying to look down Thomasin's shirt. Rotten fertility imagery. This was one spooky movie, I felt cold watching it.
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Feb 21, 2016 00:01
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So I just got home from watching this, and at the risk of sounding insanely melodramatic, there was a scene in this movie where I felt like I was in the actual presence of Evil. My goodness what an impressive film. I am so glad things like this can still get made amidst the endless carousel of sequels and recycled garbage. The scene I am talking about is the one that ends with Caleb dying, during the whole "everyone and everything is falling apart" buildup to his death with the whole family in the room together all losing it in different ways I felt disconcerted and uneasy in a way I don't think I've felt before in a movie and I was genuinely relieved when it was over. The little kids retching and crying, "She has stolen our prayers!" >shudder< What the gently caress, man, whoever wrote that scene has been to some dark, dark places in their head. The Witch has an omnipresent sense of dread and tension and abnormality that starts from the first second. That kind of atmosphere is what I look for in a true "horror" movie (as opposed to a "scary" movie where bloody poo poo just jumps at the screen etc). There is a real, almost tangible feeling of "everything is wrong and nothing will be right ever again" that just builds and builds and builds. It reminded me a lot of IMO the greatest horror film ever made, John Carpenter's The Thing. The complete isolation of the cast, the creeping paranoia that builds between them all, the unexpected, shocking instants of violence... if you like horror movies at all you owe this one the price of a ticket. And oh yes, the ending was spot on. "What dost thou want?" "What canst thou give me?"
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Feb 21, 2016 00:06
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Saw this completely cold and was entirely disappointed. Was not scared or (even unnerved) at any point during the runtime. It's hard for a is she a witch/are they a witch plot to get going when it starts with seeing a frigging witch steal and Do Something You Can't Actually See (cuz that's scary, right?) to a baby, complete with a literal witch doing a literal witch cackle later on. The audience I was with had people audibly giggling when the goat started talking, which didn't stop until the lights went up, with four simultaneous "That's it?" The accents and ye-olde speech made understanding half the dialogue a chore, to boot. E: Christ, the more I think about how unentertaining this pile was, the angrier I get. I can find bits of entertainment / reasons to justify seeing almost anything, but there's literally nothing here to appeal. MisterBibs fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 00:46
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That sort of rabbit was the only part that didn't feel like it belonged in New England, and I feel like a dummy for even noticing or caring about Rabbit Realism. Loved how everything looked, had trouble understanding some dialogue but it didn't matter. You could watch without any of the dialogue and still get everything, it's just so visually strong. Anya Taylor-Joy is excellent and I hope she has a good career ahead of her.
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Feb 21, 2016 02:05
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MisterBibs posted:Saw this completely cold and was entirely disappointed. Was not scared or (even unnerved) at any point during the runtime. It's hard for a is she a witch/are they a witch plot to get going when it starts with seeing a frigging witch steal and Do Something You Can't Actually See (cuz that's scary, right?) to a baby, complete with a literal witch doing a literal witch cackle later on. The audience I was with had people audibly giggling when the goat started talking, which didn't stop until the lights went up, with four simultaneous "That's it?" This guy gets it. Movie is a stinker. We get it, uneducated people are apt to believe pretty much anything. Woo~!
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Feb 21, 2016 02:17
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zenintrude posted:This guy gets it. Movie is a stinker. We get it, uneducated people are apt to believe pretty much anything. Woo~! That... isn't the theme of this movie at all?
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Feb 21, 2016 02:21
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My friends are split between those who say the movie's given them nightmares and those who fell asleep midway through. Almost all of them have a story about someone either giggling, asking "That's it?" or shouting "Bullshit!" at the ending. For my part, I thought the disturbing parts were powerful, and I respect the kind of story being told, but there were a couple of stretches where the background threat of a curse didn't save what were otherwise colonial chores. Also, the twins were annoying.
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Feb 21, 2016 03:15
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Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:That... isn't the theme of this movie at all? Plus everything the believe in ends up being true? No chuckling or anything when I went to see it at a fairly busy matinee. MisterBibs posted:It's hard for a is she a witch/are they a witch plot to get going when it starts with seeing a frigging witch steal and Do Something You Can't Actually See (cuz that's scary, right?) to a baby, complete with a literal witch doing a literal witch cackle later on. The subtitle of the film is "A New England Folk Tale", they make a conscious effort to depict the archetypes of witches in the environment that they originated from.
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Feb 21, 2016 04:00
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Amazing film. Atmospheric, creepy, steeped in tension. I'll be thinking about it for a long time, but I love that it wasn't a "boo HA scared you" style of film. It was a slow burn, but it satisfied big time. Dealt with some great themes of fear of the unknown, fear of female sexuality, all the good stuff. I am over the moon about this film. edit: Yeah, my theater was DEAD quiet at the end. People left in a daze. Our audience seemed really affected by the film
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Feb 21, 2016 04:17
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The baby caressing was one of the most unsettling scenes I've seen in years, because it was early enough that I had no idea how far it was going to go.
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Feb 21, 2016 04:21
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VVow, this was great. I loved how it was allowed to be a domestic drama first, letting the isolation and drudgery of their situation sink in. The sense of desperation is almost palpable - these aren't just people striking out in hard times, they're without community, without country, even, and then without nature (or, cruelly, with). The who-dunnit aspect was also really well-done, it never felt like the film was being shifty about withholding information, which makes the gradual, subtle revelations really involving. It's very White Ribbon, suffocating austerity leading to violence and punishment. Biggest scare for me was the raven pecking at the mother's breast, which I didn't not see coming, but somehow actually seeing it was so disturbing I almost couldn't handle it. The long shot where the witch comes out of her hut was totally incredible, too. The music, the dark lighting, it was one of those amazing, magical film moments that you only get a few times a year. As for the ending, idk if I'd say it was 100% satisfying (what happened to the twins?), but it does feel kind of necessary and inevitable. I loved that shot of her floating way up by the tree, and the combination of fear and elation I felt during that long shot of her face as she rises was incredible. I didn't at all know which way I should feel, so I felt both - after all that's happened, you can completely understand the appeal of the coven, and seeing something so blithely magical happen right in front of your eyes after ninety minutes of dour realism is almost a shock. I was pretty much totally sucked in to this movie.
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Feb 21, 2016 05:55
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just got out of it, as soon as the credits came up a guy yelled "I WANT MY 10 BUCKS", 3 out of the 4 people I went to go see it with thought it was one of the worst movies they've seen in years, and I absolutely adored it, really enjoying how polarizing this movie is
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Feb 21, 2016 06:03
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I think my favorite thing about the movie is how deeply satisfying the ending is, considering the devil wins, and our heroine is corrupted into a life of sin and witchcraft. It's dark, and yet it feels like the best possible outcome for Thomasin. It's almost a happy ending, if you could call your entire family dying and you becoming a witch "Happy"
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Feb 21, 2016 06:15
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ParanoidInc posted:just got out of it, as soon as the credits came up a guy yelled "I WANT MY 10 BUCKS", 3 out of the 4 people I went to go see it with thought it was one of the worst movies they've seen in years, and I absolutely adored it, really enjoying how polarizing this movie is
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Feb 21, 2016 06:46
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Casimir Radon posted:People don't like it when their expectations get subverted. While you're right in general, subverted expectations aren't whats happening here. It's unfulfilled expectations on the most basic of levels.
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Feb 21, 2016 07:25
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MisterBibs posted:While you're right in general, subverted expectations aren't whats happening here. It's unfulfilled expectations on the most basic of levels. She becomes an awesome flying lesbian, there's nothing unfulfilling about that.
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Feb 21, 2016 07:41
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I'm into really atmospheric movies, but hate jump scares so I try to avoid horror movies. For everyone who's seen this, are there a lot of jump scares?
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Feb 21, 2016 07:49
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Essentially none, there are a couple startling moments (abrupt wood-chopping, surprise animal attack) but nothing scary pops into frame.
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Feb 21, 2016 07:57
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Magic Hate Ball posted:Essentially none, there are a couple startling moments (abrupt wood-chopping, surprise animal attack) but nothing scary pops into frame. I'm so sorry to spoil the movie for myself like this, but are there at least musical cues so I know that it's going to suddenly turn really really loud? That's what gets me, and I feel like my heart's going to explode.
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Feb 21, 2016 08:10
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Mochiballs posted:I'm so sorry to spoil the movie for myself like this, but are there at least musical cues so I know that it's going to suddenly turn really really loud? That's what gets me, and I feel like my heart's going to explode. There are definitely a couple "sting" moments, but the only major one like that I can think of is towards the end when the dad gets rammed by the goat.
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Feb 21, 2016 08:19
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Im a cynical old fart that hates everything but I can respect this movie for staying faithful to the folklore. The only downside to the movie for me though was that it being a literary approach to the subject of witchery, things felt too familiar or even expected and eventually got to be underwhelming. But it is what it is.
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Feb 21, 2016 08:21
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Audience spent the whole time laughing. I was trying to hold out hope that maybe the real conflict would be the family tearing itself apart with only minimal supernatural elements. Or maybe some cause and effect between events taking place. I felt like the groundwork laid in the first portion of the film, like the father telling the son about not being able to say who is saved and who is damned, would be taken to be themes of the story. Instead, the actions of Thomasina, ending up killing her mother and joining the coven seem to be undertaken so ambivalently that there's no real sense of motivation other than "welp, I guess I'll do this for now". No one learns anything, there's no payoff to any of the character development that I can discern. I would have much preferred a more subtle sense of weirdness, percolating slowly, as the characters grow more uneasy with each other, rather than the blast of gore and sudden ramping up of "oh yeah, witches!" at the end.
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Feb 21, 2016 09:58
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Man, I'm really surprised to hear how different people's audiences were. My audience was dead silent.
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Feb 21, 2016 15:33
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My audience was dead silent at the end save for one dude who said loudly, "That was the gayest movie I've ever seen!"
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Feb 21, 2016 16:25
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The only sound in my theater was someone loudly saying "GROSS" during the kiss scene.
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Feb 21, 2016 16:44
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I could tell the person sitting directly behind me wasn't impressed with the film, but the audience was very quiet when the movie ended.
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Feb 21, 2016 17:01
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A disappointed misterbibs is the biggest recommendation to the movie's quality I can imagine. I don't normally go to horror movies but this seems like one I'll check out.
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Feb 21, 2016 17:06
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Great movie, really enjoyed it! It wasn't too scary but it was disturbing at points and the acting and imagery was on point. Our theater wasn't as divided as everyone else is saying there was actually a ton of applause when the credits rolled.
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Feb 21, 2016 17:21
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I think I saw it with the worst audience I've ever been in a theatre with. I knew the packed theater was a bad sign. Lots of chuckling; people seemed baffled that a movie called The Witch actually had, you know, a witch. The guy in front of me loudly said after it ended, "Wow that was the worst movie I've seen. Where's the refund line?" which pissed me off, like gently caress that bullshit attitude, thinking you deserve a refund for not liking a movie, go gently caress yourself.
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Feb 21, 2016 18:44
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Wraith of J.O.I. posted:I think I saw it with the worst audience I've ever been in a theatre with. I knew the packed theater was a bad sign. Lots of chuckling; people seemed baffled that a movie called The Witch actually had, you know, a witch. The guy in front of me loudly said after it ended, "Wow that was the worst movie I've seen. Where's the refund line?" which pissed me off, like gently caress that bullshit attitude, thinking you deserve a refund for not liking a movie, go gently caress yourself. I talked to a guy I know who manages a theater this morning, and after randomly bitching about the movie, he told me that, at a guess, a third of people who went into The Witch asked for a refund. MisterBibs fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 19:05
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I worked at a movie theater for years, and just lol at people who ask for a refund. (Sorry if this is an old topic here, this is my first CD thread  )I'm still really intrigued by the "using mostly natural light" aspect. I've done a little filming of my own but I'm not very knowledgeable. But I find it hard to imagine not using at least some extra fill light, even when filming in daylight. Do you think they did? Or maybe they used reflectors to use the sun as fill light?
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Feb 21, 2016 19:15
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Movie was great. Kind of felt of a piece with Bone Tomahawk; tense, slow-burn period piece Americana horror with excellent screenwriting. Also lol at the people saying the "olde timey" language was hard to understand, it was about as olde timey as an average episode of Game of Thrones.
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Feb 21, 2016 19:32
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