Director: The Pickering Brothers
Year: 2019
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: The Witches of Dumpling Farm
Genre: Witchcraft
Plot:
Hearing about an open property, a man moves out to a remote house in the British countryside to forget his failed marriage and tries to help the landowner look after the house, only to slowly realize the strange dreams of demonic flesh-eating witches have come true and must try to get away alive.
Review:
This one ended up with a lot to like about it. One of the strongest elements featured here is a wholly enjoyable setup that is quite fun at slowly delving into the unraveling threat. The location, being out in the countryside, away from civilization, surrounded by the voices of nature, gets this going rather nicely with the rugged lifestyle shown as a big contrast to the civilized lifestyle he’s used to. That unfamiliarity is what allows him to miss many of the eerie signs that something’s going on, including the warnings about staying out of certain rooms, the creepy attitude of the landlord watching over him or the glances cast at him with obvious sinister intent which he clearly misses the point but do manage to provide a creepy setup alongside the brief mentions of male disappearances in the area no one else notices.
With that setup in place, the supernatural influxes that emerge are quite chilling and work rather well. The various dreams he has become far grander and more terrifying as they continue, ranging from the girl emerging from the field and screaming demonically to chasing her through the woods before turning into the terrifying witch and biting his face off, to the trip appearing in his room in the demonic incantatio,n screaming at him. This escalating series of scenes goes so well with the utterly fantastic revelation scene after the party, where they show their real form and massacre the guests in absolutely graphic manners, getting in plenty of gore as well as using the woodland setting and fantastic practical make-up on the witches to fantastic effect. Finishing with a stellar confrontation at the house, which has plenty of fun and bloodshed featured, it ends the film on a high note and gives this plenty to like.
There are a few parts to this one that hold it back. One of the biggest features is a strong and somewhat notable series of character traits that don’t seem to go together at all. The fact that the one character who’s clearly in league with the witches from the very beginning but is revealed to be so at the end seems to be completely out of character, since that means the secretive behavior and weirdness they display is completely confusing and unnecessary. There’s little need or purpose as to what’s going on, especially with the end result being the guys’ intended slaughter anyway, so the secret stays hidden, and it all becomes quite pointless to act like that.
That, in essence, leads to the other strong flaw here in the generally weak and underwhelming storyline at play that leaves so much to be desired. Not only are the characters here completely lacking in rationality, but hardly anything else really makes sense at all, starting with the whole concept of the coven and how they need new victims. This is never made clear if he’s a specific target sought out intentionally or stumbled upon on ongoing operation against his knowledge as the manner of how he gets involved here makes no sense, much like the existence of the coven operating in the area without anyone else noticing since there’s mention of what they’ve been doing with the disappearances yet nothing else comes out about it. These are what hold the film back.
Overview: ***/5
A solid and somewhat enjoyable witchcraft effort, there's enough to like with this one that it comes together incredibly well for what it is, despite some issues holding it back. Those with an interest in this style of genre fare or aren't bothered by the issues on display will have a lot to like here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment