Movie Review: Witch Hunt

credit: Witch Hunt

Kind of like serial killer movies, in which movies have risen through the ranks over the years and become a popular topic among the fans for several reasons that are personal to many fans and tend to keep these movies around, even if some of them aren’t quite the same quality as others. Witch Hunt isn’t a bad movie since it has a reasonably solid premise, but like a lot of movies, the issue comes in the acting, the dialogue, or the lulls that are often used to build the emotional content of the movie. In this manner, this feature manages to let things lag in a way that’s hard to reconcile since if the story were to tighten up a bit, it’s fair to think it would be a little more convincing. The whole idea of witches being persecuted is nothing new, but in the modern era, things have changed quite a bit since this movie makes it clear that witches are not tolerated in the US but can be shipped to Mexico, where the authorities have no jurisdiction. 

credit: Witch Hunt

It’s a bleak future for witches, whether good or evil. 

What’s unfortunate about this movie is that the point of it gets muddied in a big way since the whole idea of witches being persecuted is one that’s been pushed in a lot of different stories, and witches with hidden abilities are nothing new, either. But there’s still enough juice left in this type of idea to make it work since the idea of witchcraft, however skewed it becomes by one movie or TV show, can still go a long way toward entertaining the masses. Something about hiding witches in the walls and facing constant trouble from the authorities make this story appealing in a way, but it also breaks down rather quickly since it creates a feeling that Americans have been dealing with when it comes to immigrants, and then this feeling somehow gets lost. 

The overall theme is one people have seen before and might be tired of seeing. 

The persecution angle that is being used is definitely capable of getting the attention of the audience since it hearkens back to a very big issue that has been seen in the news for several years now. Replacing immigrants with witches is a very easy switch, but it invokes the same feelings that many people have kept for a while now. The only reason that the audience might not care as much is that the movie isn’t precisely crafted in a manner that keeps people on the edge of their seats. From the way the subject is presented to the lackadaisical manner in which it moves, one can easily surmise that this movie was never really bound for greatness but was meant to be a middle-of-the-road feature that some might find endearing in one way or another. The whole idea of witches being burned at the stake unless they manage to escape to another country is one that might bring up a few different feelings, but in terms of being made into a movie, it’s easy to see how this would fall so flat. 

credit: Witch Hunt

The talent being used should be recognized by a lot of people.

The actors that take part in this movie have been seen in several other features that have been fairly popular since they’ve acted alongside other big names that have impressed a great number of people. But it would appear that on their own and without any big talent that they’re not quite as convincing and they don’t really wow the audience in a way that would cause this movie to stand out. Maybe watch movies simply aren’t as popular as they used to be, or maybe this was simply one of the many stories that were destined to fall through the cracks once it made its appearance on a streaming channel. Whatever the case, it does feel that this story could have been a lot more impressive had it raised the bar and made the stakes a little higher in this movie. 

To be fair, movies about witchcraft are kind of hit-and-miss a lot of the time. 

There are great movies that deal with witchcraft, and there are horrible movies. Witch Hunt falls somewhere in the middle, which is not good or bad, as it simply is. This movie could have been great had it done a few things differently, but as it stands now, it’s just another movie that failed to live up to its own hype. The worst part is that there wasn’t much hype built up in the first place. 

Movies about witchcraft are fun, but they can fail a little too quickly.