Sundance Favorite “The Witch,” a Hit in the Box Office?

            Robert Eggers made a name for himself with the Sundance Film Festival smash “The Witch.” Set in the 1600’s a devout family is banished from their plantation and are forced to test their faith by settling on new land. Things begin to go awry on the new plantation and the horror ensues.

But is “The Witch” scary? It seems as though critics everywhere are claiming this to revitalize the horror industry and chill you to your bones. Though “The Witch” is unnerving, and haunting at some moments, it hardly leaves you feeling scared afterwards as a good horror movie should.

The main downfall of “The Witch” was that it continued to build tension throughout the movie, but gave no follow through. This doesn’t mean I wanted a jump scare (jump scares are cheap and I think they take away from a film’s true horror.) I just wanted some sort of end result from a constant build of tension. Also, you hardly even see the witch! If I was directing this movie, I would have gone with the name “Witchcraft” to follow the story more closely.

On a positive note, this movie had excellent cinematography and superb dialog. At no point did the actors seem as if they were “phoning it in” (to give almost no effort or enthusiasm,) their lines and delivered a very believable experience as if you were really in that time era. This was especially refreshing in some of the child actors who really had to step up for these roles.

“The Witch” was a very indie feeling movie, with a slew of highs and lows that will either make or break it for the audience. I would recommend this for anyone who “just has to see a scary movie RIGHT NOW,” but otherwis,e just wait for it to come out on Netflix or Redbox.

                  In the end I would give Robert Eggers’ “The Witch” a 2/5 stars.