- Actors: Paget Brewster
- Director: Kyle Rankin
- Disc Format: Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: Mpi Home Video
- DVD Release Date: October 9, 2018
- Run Time: 87 minutes
The Witch Files
feels like a rejected CW teen series that was reworked into a low budget
independent film. And in case it isn’t clear, I don’t mean that as a
compliment. With a cast of flat teenage stereotypes played by attractive
mannequins standing in for actors, a nonsensical found-footage format, and
cheesy CGI effects, I was thankful for a run-time under 90-minutes. Even with
improved budget and cast, I don’t think I could have endured an entire season
of a Witch Files TV series.
There are male
characters crucial to the storyline, but The Witch Files is really only
interested in the female perspective. Obviously jumping on the current upswing
in narratives about female strength, our narrative begins with a group of girls
meeting in high school detention after one of them fights back against a handsy
male student with a reputation. From that point on, men are little more than
pawns in the hands of these five teens, who discover they have natural
supernatural abilities upon the arrival of a new student.
Claire (Holly
Taylor) is only around the other girls to film an exposé on the effects of high
school detention. When queen bee Brooke (Alice Ziolkoski) decides to take
Claire under her wing, the camera is brought along as well. Why another camera
shows up, held by one of the other girls in order to capture Claire’s lines, is
one of many gaps in logic that the target demographic is expected not to think
about.
Claire might be
our protagonist and the one that gives excuse to the found-footage format, but
it is the arrival of a new girl named Jules (Britt Flatmo) that is the real
catalyst for the film’s supernatural storyline. When Jules is able to get them
out of detention by setting off the fire alarm, the rest of the girls want to
see more. Soon Claire and the four detention buddies are experimenting with
spells and manipulating the boys at their school to do their bidding. Little do
they know, the powers accumulated through witchcraft come at a price and their
new coven may not be what they think.
More fantasy
than horror, there aren’t many thrills to be found in this film. A majority of
the screen time is simply spent with the five teens mindlessly discussing the
events that only take up a fraction of the film. Mostly, this feels like
content that wouldn’t interest anyone but teen girls between the age of twelve
and fifteen.
Despite
some promise in his previous features, director Kyle Rankin seems to be in
autopilot directing this film. He provides the DVD with a commentary track,
which is often more interesting than the film itself. There is also a
behind-the-scenes featurette and a trailer.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 6.5/10
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