Director: Leigh Janiak
Year: 2021
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
After a series of strange attacks, a group of friends comes to believe that a centuries-old witch’s curse has affected them with a multitude of resurrected killers affecting them and the rest of the town, forcing them to uncover the secrets of the curse to stop the series of murders from continuing.
Review:
There was a lot to like about this one. One of the strongest elements here is the fun, slick energy that runs rampant throughout here that brings about a highly enjoyable atmosphere of the time period. The edgy attitudes, bright colors, and small-town vibes that run throughout here with the fantastic appearance and presentation of the town at that time that gives off a completely immersive feeling that goes alongside their constant references and callbacks to the past tragedies in the town. This manages to effectively mix together an old-school feel involving the rebirth of the witch’s curse and how it affects the group, tying together the past tragedies and mass murders as the continuing influence she has over the town.
As well, that manages to highlight the film’s enjoyably complex and involving storyline that enables the mixing of elements to come together. The aspects of the curse that they discover, including the particular method of doing so that the individual performs unknowingly the whole time and how the various past tragedies have affected their lives by encountering the multiple killers throughout the film, all come off incredibly well. The series of discoveries made about the nature of the witch and how they can battle it to save themselves and their friendship is a great addition to it all, bringing together a modern-day take on a centuries-old witchcraft curse that requires them to perform some rather unbelievable actions to take place. This keeps the film rolling along nicely throughout its running time.
Lastly, there’s a lot to like here regarding the stylish stalking scenes that are utilized throughout here. The spectacular opening at the mall involving the massacre of the workers there through the store provides an impressive beginning that focuses rather nicely on the stalking of the masked killer throughout the confined spaces. The series of stalking scenes involving the killer appearing at their houses and stalking them throughout the town offers up some chilling moments since they don’t know what’s going on, and the setup is prepared for its two major stalking scenes n the hospital or the fantastic encounter with the multiple reanimated killers at the school that leads into the fun finale at the grocery store which is fun, gory and over-the-top in the best way. These elements really hold this one up over its few flaws.
There really isn’t much really wrong with this one. One of the few drawbacks to be had here is the fact that, by being the first one in the series but referencing other events in the past line of tragedies, a lot of the film feels like the intention was to world-build but it ends up spoiling large sections of other films. That the towns’ past tragedies are acknowledged in quite explicit manners is rather unusual. As well, the other big factor here is the overlong finale that goes on way too long for its own good setting up the next entries in the series rather than focusing on trying to wrap up its own storylines so it’s quite dragging at a point that it doesn’t need to be. These factors end up bringing this one down.
Overview: ****.5/5
A fun, fast-paced mainstream-friendly genre effort that doesn’t have much wrong with it, those positive factors leave this one to be a highly impressive and enjoyable entry that features these positives overall. Give this a look if you’re a fan of the genre or aesthetic that comes into play, a fan of more glossy mainstream films, or curious about this concept, but viewers turned off by those factors should heed a lot of caution with this one.
This review ran as part of our 2023 Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out the rest of our month-long celebrations including various reviews and interviews:
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