The Witch (2015) #429

Please be warned, this entry contains mild spoilers.

A favorite of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and distributed by A24, "The Witch", or "The VVitch" as the cover suggests, is about a Purtian family suffering from the paranoia, religious zealotry, and evil supernatural forces. It is an apt representation of how brutal life was for the settlers in New England in the 17th century and how easily their fragile existence could become undone. The attention to detail as well as the use of language is incredible, although it is difficult to follow at times. Watching the film a second time through helps illuminate subtle plot points that may have been overlooked the first time through.

The story is straight forward and chilling, as it follows William, his pregnant wife Katherine, elder daughter Thomasin, elder son Caleb, and twins Mercy and Jonas attempt to build a life outside of the New England plantation that they have been exiled from. The family is forced to leave due William's conceited pride, and so they leave and build a farm on the edge of a vast forest. Katherine gives birth to a son that they named Samuel. just when life for the family seems to be going well, Samuel goes missing while being watched by Thomasin; Katherine becomes depressed and begins praying all day long, hinting that Thomasin is responsible for losing Samuel as well as her favorite silver cup. Mercy playfully suggests that she's a witch and that Black Phllip, their goat, talks to her and her brother Jonas. Mercy then blames Thomasin for losing their baby brother, so Thomasin tells her little sister that she's the witch to scare her sister away. When Caleb goes missing in the forest after he and Thomasin went to check on their hunting traps, she is blamed yet again. After another tragedy, William's zealotry reaches it's climax as he locks Thomasin and the twins in the barn with Black Phillp, to allow God to sort things out.

Mercy (2014) #402

"Mercy" is another film that has been adapted from a short story by Stephen King originally titled "Gramma" ; these little gems will be coming to light for many more years to come. It has his feel about it, from the names of the characters to their familiar relationships. The movie stars Chandler Riggs (Carl from "The Walking Dead") as George, a young boy who is close with his grandmother Mercy. Chandler delivers a fine performance and carries the movie well while supported by Dylan McDermott and Frances O'Connor. What I liked most about this film is that it embraced the fact that it was dealing with supernatural elements unlike other movies in recent years that seem to through supernatural aspects into the plot for a surprise twist or for an easy ending.

George is the only relative that seems to love and get a long with his grandmother Mercy. George enjoys spending time with her and listening to her stories and advice, and then teasing his older brother with the stories that haunt their family history. After Mercy has a stroke and is forced out of the nursing home, George's mother brings George and his brother with her back to her childhood home to take care of Mercy. Strange events begin to take place that directly affect George's mother and her two siblings, as well as George's brother and even an old flame of his mom's. George discovers that witchcraft, spirits, and even a spell book are all apart of Mercy's past. But what will this mean for him and his family?

Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982)

No matter how good the movie itself is, "Halloween 3: Season of the Witch" will always be considered a failure because it wasn't about Michael Myers. Produced by both John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the third installment of the "Halloween" franchise was meant to turn the series into an anthology of films based on the holiday Halloween in some fashion or another with the fourth film planned as a ghost movie. I can understand the general public and various movie critics being confused by this concept after the first two films were both about Michael Myers. It was an ambitious and creative concept that simply went against the norm.

Had it been on it's own and not associated with the "Halloween" franchise, "Season of the Witch" is still a unique and entertaining film. It has elements that I haven't seen elsewhere, solid casting especially with Dan O'Herliy as the villainous Conal Cochran. The version I saw looked restored or otherwise the original version had some very high film and lightening productions values for the time. My only complaints about the film is how often they play the annoying music of the Silver Shamrocks commercial and the cop out demise of Conal Cochran.

I should also add that this is the first film from the "Halloween" franchise that I saw from beginning to end, after being edited for broadcast TV.


Dr. Dan Challis becomes wrapped up in a mystery after a crazed man gripping a popular Halloween mask is admitted to his care. While sedated, the man is attacked and killed by a man in a business suit who promptly goes to his car and pours gasoline all over himself before striking a match, burning himself up and the car in an explosion. Dr. Challis is assisted by the victim's daughter, Ellie, who tells Dan that her father sold the popular masks in his shop near by. The last place he was seen before being admitted to the hospital was at the Silver Shamrocks factory where the masks were made. Dan and Ellie go to the small town where the factory is and soon discover that the factory is manned by dozens of the men who looked like the original assailant. After digging deeper than they should and attracting notice, Dan and Ellie are captured and soon learn about the diabolical scheme that the owner of Silver Shamrocks, Conal Cochran, has planned for all of the children who love to wear his masks.

The Mother of Tears (2007)

“Mother of Tears” is one of Dario Argento’s more recent works and is the third chapter of his “Three Mothers” trilogy that includes “Suspiria” and “Inferno”. It’s an interesting film with a great premise but you know that you are watching a very Italian horror movie; not that there’s anything wrong with that but it should be kept in mind if you’re thinking about renting this or watching it online. It stars Asia Argento who has a very uneven performance, and the movie includes a brief scene with Udo Kier as a priest who tries to help Asia’s character with some vital piece of information. The film is beautiful to watch, doesn’t include a soundtrack by the band Goblin, and has a type of monkey that heralds certain doom.

When an urn from the 1500’s is unearthed during a construction project, an ancient evil is unleashed within the city of Rome. Mater Lachrymarum is the last surviving of the “Three Mothers”, three timeless sisters who perform dark magic, and once the urn is opened, she and her helpers descend onto Rome to retrieve the items within which includes a cloak that increases her powers dramatically. With the cloak in her possession, the people of Rome become violent and begin a rash of murders, destruction and suicide. Sarah Mandy helped open the urn and saw her boss killed by Marta Lachrymarum demon servants. Now Sarah is on the run trying to solve the mystery of Marta Lachrymarum while discovering that her own mother was a white witch who is contacting her from beyond the grave (WAY TOO MUCH like Obi Wan talking to Luke after he died!!!!!). The movie ends with a showdown between Sarah the White Witch and Marta Lachrymarum, the Mother of Tears.  DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!