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Horror movies may be the easiest, down-and-dirtiest way for new filmmakers to break into movies — because of the low cost of gross prosthetics and spurts of fake blood, and the low expectations of horror fans.
That may change with "The Witch," the debut feature of writer-director Robert Eggers that terrified audiences at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Eggers applies an artisan's skill — with precise direction, classical camerawork and a masterful talent for creating dreadful tension — to a pulse-quickening horror tale based on 17th-century New England folklore.
The movie centers on one family in a New England community in 1630. Though the parents, William (Ralph Ineson) and Katherine (Kate Dickie), are staunch Christians, William stubbornly refuses to submit to the will of the town's leaders — so the family is cast out.
The family, including daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her baby brother, resettle at the edge of a dark forest. Thomasin senses something sinister in those woods — a feeling that grows when her little brother is stolen. Fear and recrimination set in, and Katherine starts accusing Thomasin of witchcraft.
Eggers has done his homework. The Puritan-era setting feels authentic, and the script has characters speaking what sounds close enough to colonial-era English to complete the alienating effect.
But what's truly impressive in "The Witch" is the way Eggers creates a whole new iconography of chilling and eerie images that will scare the bejeebers out of you. In an era of cheap-and-fast horror, seeing Eggers' handcrafted horror is a welcome surprise.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
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'The Witch'
An attention to detail pays off in this well-crafted example of horror, 17th-century style.
Where • Area theaters.
When • Opens Friday, Feb. 19.
Rating • R for disturbing violent content and graphic nudity.
Running time • 90 minutes.