Director: Margaret Malandruccolo
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Witchcraft
Plot:
Still mourning the loss of her mother, a young girl at a small college town falls in with a group fo witches trying to perform a spell that will release a trapped witch’s spirit but when she learns of the true nature of the spell tries to stop a deadly prophecy from coming true.
Review:
This was a solid and highly enjoyable genre effort. One of the better features here is the films’ rather enjoyable take on the spells and practices that they go through for their rituals. The opening in the abandoned ruins with the fire pit, repeated mantras and slashing that goes on before the shocking sacrificial act not only provides a nice introduction to things but allows for some solid visual flair to go along with the storyline setups going forward. The later scenes of them not only conducting spells to further their own means but start to prepare for the upcoming rituals and spells shows off their powers and dedications quite well.
With their abilities given center-stage at this point, it manages to become incredibly fun in the finale where the double-cross occurs and the true intentions are known. When the ceremony backfires on them and they realize they’ve unknowingly performed another resurrection spell than what they thought, the race to uncover everything and turn to several fun chases and battles between the two different sides of the faction as they’re out creating tons of action and chaos with their powers. Given a fine professional gloss and some added sleaze here and there, the film has a lot to like about it.
There are some flaws to be had with this one. One of the biggest issues is with the rather bizarre behaviors the coven goes through despite being supposed friends. On several occasions, they cast spells against each other as a form of motivation, constantly berate and put down ideas to further their goal if they’re not performed fast enough and just don’t seem to have any kind of friendship chemistry at all beyond all having the same powers and end-game. It very much feels like two separate cliques within the coven rather than all being a part of one unified group which doesn’t sit well at all no matter how much they put up appearances to the contrary.
The other problematic flaw is the weak and chaotic storyline that tends to focus on several intriguing ideas but manages to make for a jumbled setup regardless. The main culprit of this is the shorter running time not giving this one a chance to breathe as it crams in too many storylines that don’t have time to get explored, such as the romance angle that is rushed and awkward as well as the continued visits to the occult bookstore for help when the entire thing could’ve been laid out at once instead of jumping around to various characters. Eliminating the useless bar-scenes and then naming better reasons for her to join them would’ve been just as good, giving this some elements to hold it back.
Overview: ***/5
While there are a few minor problems that stick out here with some confusing antics and rushed storytelling, the rest of the film manages to have a lot to like about it which lets it be quite enjoyable. It’s worth a look for those that like these kinds of cheesy witchcraft efforts or just a fan of this kind of film, while those looking for something more or turned off by the flaws should heed caution.
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