SoumikBanerjee1996

The film draws inspiration from the likes of Peter Jackson's 'Braindead' and Sam Raimi's original "Evil Dead," my concern lies not with these influences, rather with theie lackluster execution that permeates the narrative.

The storyline adheres to every possible cliché and known trope associated with traditional cabin and zombie horror.

For those well-versed in the genre, predicting the plot points would be a child's play

Now the film does try to delve into gory territory, effectively showcasing body horror and bloodshed, within its limited scope and resources, of course, but it ultimately fails to offer anything fresh from an execution standpoint and that is my biggest gripe here.

The politically and historically charged subtext offered a solid foundation for the story to develop; however, the absence of foresight and a reluctance to embrace creative risks hindered the narrative's full potential.

I have absolutely no objections to the slow-paced screenplay or the relatively small assemblage of characters. My primary concern lies in the missed opportunities for risk-taking, as the creators opted for a safer, more conventional approach.

And this decision resulted in a narrative that felt overly simplistic, despite the rich contextual material that warranted a far more ambitious execution.

Black magic, satanic worship, practice of witchcraft, and their grave consequences; the film deals with some of the darkest chapters of human history but in an absurd, almost comical way, and the strangest thing is this surprising alteration of approach does not come off as jarring; the concoction rather begets intrigue as the conjoined narration and imageries make the whole proceeding oddly amusing.

Particularly the latter stages of the writing, where the writer-director, Mister Benjamin Christensen, tries to come up with some scientific rationale for the odd behaviours of women that were once used to stigmatise and consequently label them as 'witches,' and he also draws parallels to various 'practices' of the Middle Ages and the livings and rituals of modern civilisation.

Interesting for sure!

P. S. "Oh, learned men, I saw the witches kiss the evil one on his behind"; so that's how the famous phrase originated? I.e. "Kiss my @ss"?