Bad Witch

After getting in trouble with the authorities, a witch decides to flee the small town he lives in and finds refuge with a friend, but when he befriends a bullied worker at a fast-food restaurant he begins to teach his black magic skills to help him out setting off a wave of trouble when the secrets are revealed.

This was a rather troubling genre effort. One of the main elements which hold this one back is that the film's reliant on trying to force the horror elements on a completely unlikeable figure. This one tries to generate sympathy for a narcissistic, shallow abuser of black magic for his own means and then has the gall to impose himself on a reluctant friend to invade his life, deny responsibility and act as socially repugnant as he wants to be. Getting a job at the diner causes more issues with the too-cool-for-school approach that doesn't engender himself any better as he still comes off as a pompous, arrogant douchebag. The way he interacts with the employees, customers or anyone else he comes across simply continues that feeling which really turns him off as a sympathetic figure. Even worse is the supposed horror scenes here just come off rather lame and underwhelming. The branding of the main witch storyline should've been far more of a threatening notice to get things involved with his actual identity but is ineptly handled to the point of not even being that interesting. The scenes of them practicing spells doesn't come off as anything more than lighthearted teaching scenes, and the moments he tries to put spells on others just come off as lame with the whole thing relegated to breaking out in zits and speaking unwanted truths about others. That none of these remotely come off as threatening is a major factor here as the idea of what's going on should've been threatening and intimidating but instead has a completely underwhelming feel. These here are what holds this one down. This one does have a few intriguing elements to it so it's not a total miss. The main enjoyable factor to this one is the somewhat gruesome effects-work made for the various spells being cast. Although the idea is somewhat underwhelming itself, the outcome still works in the context of seeing all the spores that have broken out on their face and body, producing some rather fun results. The later scenes with the action being carried out to keep their secret intact works nicely to inject some activity into the film by offering up a fine mix of supernatural antics and much more normal interactions that offer some rather enjoyable means of confronting a supernatural being. However, these aren't overly exciting in the long run and don't have enough to raise this one up over its flaws.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

...by that I mean it's obviously low budget, but I still really dug this movie and so did my girlfriend. There are some neat and icky parts which enticed me. AGain, don't expect it to be a damn blockbuster type but expect a fun time if you can look pass it being indie.

As I write, this movie has a 3.7 rating, which is way too low. Sure, it's got a next to nothing budget which shows from time to time. It's not particularly original story-wise. But it's got something that's rarely seen in the comedy/horror genre: It's got heart.

About the same lines as the 80's horror comedies. I enjoyed it. For those saying there is no such things as male witches, well it is fictional and there is no such thing as sparkly vampires either. Everyone's a critic..

Witchcraft, at least cinematic witchcraft, has been either played for laughs or, with recent offerings like "The Witch", used as a dark, impressionistic metaphor for societal or personal fears. Something that is almost never portrayed is the idea of witchcraft being an albatross around the neck of the practitioner. "Bad Witch" does this through the lead character. Xander Perkins is a narcissistic tool who glides by on his looks by mooching off women and the occasional spell casting. But while other movies show witchcraft as an asset to characters, such as an instrument of revenge, the dark arts don't do Xander any favors. In fact, they make things worse. After a misguided spell results in a beat-down from the victim and his bros, Xander retreats to the house of a high school friend, swearing off the witchcraft and resolving to go straight. The drug terminology isn't accidental; the movie pointedly compares witchcraft to drug addiction, something not seen in other films. Rather than making Xander powerful and dangerous, witchcraft has seemed to make him lazy, self-absorbed, and constantly in trouble. This changes when, goaded by his friend to get a job, he befriends Roland, a nice kid who is bullied by a loutish jock and his friend. In an uncharacteristically empathetic move, Xander teaches Roland witchcraft, which at first seems to work: the jock gets the worst case of zits in the history of high school, and Roland gets to make it with the girl of his dreams--almost. Unlike Xander, Roland has a moral compass. He can't go through with the spell to make it with the girl, and even goes to apologize to her the next day (She doesn't remember it). This idyll doesn't last, as the ramifications of the spell casting snowball into a traumatic climax.

Incredibly, I detected a moral lesson here. Most movies steadfastly refuse to do it, but "Bad Witch" does. Witchcraft, even done for the right reasons (such as to right a wrong or get revenge on bullies) is inherently evil. Xander, despite his front of being a don't care hedonist, seems to have some sort of guilt about his craft: this is proven by the scenes in which he hallucinates that a TV preacher is screaming at him. This idea culminates in the finale, which has tragic repercussions for almost all of the characters. So maybe that is the final spell cast by "Bad Witch".