Review

  • Warning: Spoilers
    Is it me or has Orson put a fake nose yet again for this movie? He did it at least once before, in "Touch of Evil" for example, so I wouldn't be surprised if he dood it again. Perhaps that was one of the conditions for appearing in this low-budget Bert I. Gordon nonsense. "Alright, I'll do it, but under several conditions, the first one being that I can use a fake nose."

    Pamela Franklin is in nearly every scene. This means that even if this were the dumbest supernatural thriller around, it would still be at the very least an easily watchable movie. Those eyes!

    The lines that come out of Pamela's beautiful mouth and her behaviour are a cross between goofy, ditsy, and absurd. She and her hubby Ontkean have a road accident, she witnesses the death of a woman in the other car, and yet they drive on as if nothing had happened. She even takes a "souvenir" from the crash-site, the dead woman's doll.

    Plenty of nudity here. On occasion "The Witching" feels like it'd been produced by Hugh Hefman, with the notable difference that all the breasts featured here are real. The movie looks like a 70s flick (which it is) but the occasionally synthesizer-orientated soundtrack is very much 80s. That is a little strange.

    The ending is just about as stupid – because totally devoid of ANY twist – as any that I'd ever seen. We had been told beforehand that Pamela has to become a witch in order to bring back to life Orson's dead son, after which she will take his place in the grave. We are told this 20-30 minutes before the end. And guess what happens? That's exactly what happens. I don't remember ever seeing a horror film with such a dead-end crappy ending without a point. If the writer is too lazy to come up with an end-twist (even if it's totally cliché) then he should at least not reveal everything that the viewer will ever find out, already a half-hour before the conclusion. Duh.

    Many idiotic things occur, such as a total lack of explanation as to why Franklin willingly became a witch. There was no indication at any point that she wanted any of this, and yet when the time came she took part in the ceremony without any hesitation. Duuuh. The ceremony was to take place only if she became a witch of her own accord. Well, why she accorded of her own accord to join the according chord, this is never accordingly accorded. But this IS a Bert I. Gordon flick, after all, so let's be grateful for little things.

    "The other condition that I accept this role is that I win and Pamela loses. And that there is no surprise twist at all." Hmm, perhaps it's all Orson's fault.