Heir of the Witch

This has to be the absolute worst and dumbest movie I've ever tried to watch. The main character is self absorbed, has zero social skills, makes everyone around her feel awkward by just staying silent and feeling sorry for herself, and spends the entire movie moping around wondering why she can't relate to anything or anyone.

I've only rated a handful of movies but this one made me angrier and angrier the more I watched to the point that I had to jump on here and write a review just to warn anyone who sees the review to not waste their time. Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen a lot of bad movies that I just felt "meh, okay" about and moved on. But this pity party is just painful to watch and I sincerely hope the director/actress finds the help in real life that she truly and obviously needs.

I watched the vast majority of this movie just hating it. It seemed like the plot was was just barely going through the standard horror tropes. All the main characters are bland or unlikable. The main actress is playing a plain and overlooked woman, but she's the most radiant one there.

So far, those are pretty typical problems for a horror movie. But the absolute worst problem is the pacing. Everything plods along with very little rhyme or reason. We get largely useless flashbacks. There are several abrupt time jumps that, instead of being effective, feel like scenes were just missing. One gap is probably eight months long, with no forewarning. With one of the victims there's a scene where we think logically that she surely must have been killed, but shortly after we get another scene where she's still alive and not even addressing having gone through anything earlier, followed quickly by a suggestion that she just got killed for real that time, but no actual scene explaining any of it. I think you're supposed to guess, but at that point it doesn't seem to fit what we know.

Closer to the end than it had any reason to, the movie took a wild turn. There was a quick succession of deaths, and a major mystery was revealed that I never saw coming. A couple of scenes were revisited, with a quick suggestion that there were other important things going on. But it's already over, credits are rolling. This was the making of a great movie. But it doesn't really work to just stuff it at the end like that.

This script badly needed a rewrite to take care of the pacing. The first two thirds of the movie should have been the first third, maybe. We got some hints, but there could have been a few more, maybe some red herrings. Parts that do not contribute to the overall plot (and a few characters even) should have just been ripped out. We needed more time at the end, and we could have seen some of the repercussions of what happened. It doesn't even have to all be denouement, if it were parceled out better we could process each step and build suspense about what that one was going to mean before the next one hit. And the loose threads could have been addressed in a satisfying way. For example, at this point I don't know if an important character lived or died, based upon what we know at the end.

I hope I danced around the spoilers successfully. Even knowing that there is a spoiler can in itself be a kind of spoiler, but I mention it so you don't give up on this movie before it's over. At least one of the reviews said they bailed before it finished, which is a shame. Fast forward a little if you have to, but don't just turn it off.

Few experiences rival the profound satisfaction of witnessing one's expectations surpassed by a considerable margin. Periodically, amidst the landscape of independent and low-budget productions, a rare find emerges-a shining beacon of originality and innovation. "Heir of the Witch" stands as a testament to such rarity.

From its inception, the craftsmanship evident in the writing of this haunting tale, partly inspired by real-life events, resonates deeply. It delves unflinchingly into themes of inheritance, curses, and the inescapable shackles of ancestral legacy, establishing the script as the pulsating heart of the narrative.

The performances exhibited within this production stand unparalleled within the realm of low-budget endeavors. Each character exudes a profound depth, while the dialogue, imbued with layers of meaning, creates a rich tapestry of interaction. Astute viewers will delight in the plethora of Easter eggs and subtle foreshadowing woven seamlessly throughout, ensuring that the narrative remains unpredictable, with each plot twist delivering a jolt of surprise.

Victoria U. Bell's portrayal is nothing short of unforgettable.

Furthermore, the cinematography transcends expectations, displaying a level of artistry and attention to detail that commands admiration. The visual effects, executed with astonishing precision, add an extra layer of immersion, elevating the viewing experience to new heights.

In summation, "Heir of the Witch" stands as a testament to the boundless potential of independent filmmaking, where creativity and passion converge to produce a work that leaves an indelible mark on its audience.

Left a bit to be desired. Many transitions in the film were misplaced. The story structure of the movie is not apparent to the audience. The film lacks any direction. The movie is more about a mistress that lacks mental stability than it is a horror film. The performances come off as over exaggerated in a film that is not nearly serious or coherent enough as a film to be treated as such. As somebody who was at the first screaming I was remised to find audience members laughing at various beats of the movie. The film makers deserve credit for their hard work but the final product was below par.

Trying to get ahead in her career, a woman tries to acclimate herself to the demands of the new job she finds herself in, but the more she finds herself in this situation the more a family curse involving a witch's legacy lording over her causes her life to unravel and forces her to stop it.

This was an incredibly fun and enjoyable genre effort. One of the finer points with the film is the stellar background here which brings about the highly inventive setup of the witch and the backstory that goes into play here. With the initial background involving the special witch and the creation which all ties into the particular setup involving the domineering familial curse lingering over her where she has the opportunity to focus on her career so that the implications won't affect her. With the visions and dreams on display involving the previous family members who became involved with the curse and what will happen to her if she follows the guidelines of the particular curse while not letting her work life get interrupted by the idea all give the film a great overall starting setup. Once this gets brought into play, there's quite a lot to enjoy here with the curse coming to fruition in the form of the strange woman who starts to integrate herself into the friend group. After getting the reveal of this early on with the attack on the sleazy friend, the idea of the witch coming to take her out as she tries to continue her burgeoning relationship with her bosses that has been propelling things along rather nicely around these other storylines. With the more she hangs around them and the figure's presence becomes far more frequent, the horrific visions and taunts of the witch become that much more prominent with the curse trying to bring out her true legacy like the other members of her family as that turns into the highly enjoyable and effective finale. Fully aware of the witch's plans and how that's going to play out as the incidents start to become more violent, this all comes together into a brutal and somewhat shocking resolution with quite a lot to like here. There isn't much holding this one back, but it does have some slight drawbacks. Among its few flaws is the decided lack of actual witchcraft here as this is brought up only rarely in the first half of the film. It has a massive effect throughout the film influencing a lot of what transpires here, from her actions and treatment of others, but that doesn't translate to actual scenes with the figure on display. Only a few scenes really feature the witch until the end as the majority of the film instead focuses on a questionable romance angle between her and a married man that's never believable and highlights the other issue here in a scattered plot that whips around quite frequently to the point it's possible to lose track of what's happening. Overall, these are the factors that bring the film down as a whole.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, and violence-against-children.