The Haunting of Pendle Hill

You know, it's always interesting to see a movie made by a filmmaker whose ambition outstrips his talent. Such is the case with Richard John Taylor's "The Haunting of Pendle Hill", an atmospheric film based loosely on some real-life witch trials in rural England in 1612. While the cinematography of the rural countryside it lovely, the film itself struggles to build any suspense or interest. Some of this may be due to a low budget, but most of it hinges on the fact that it's bloody difficult to keep an audience engaged with the "slow burn" method when the story and/or actor's performances don't create any momentum or rising tension. And, as the title of this review implies, there are a few glaring period glitches. It's not a technical stinker (most of the film seems very competently made), it just doesn't deliver in terms of action or scares.

Having grown up 20 minutes away from where this movie was set and having known about the history of the Pendle witches since childhood, I was utterly disappointed with this movie and it's delivery.

The dialogue is one dimensional and the acting as a result, is flat and lifeless. Ongoing time jumps to the past add the the frustration of the story, which doesn't really go anywhere with any energy or drive. Even the drone scenery shots and panoramic views are clearly from other areas of the UK, possibly either the Lake District or North Wales, which are both over an hour and a half away from Pendle Hill itself. This adds to the inauthenticity of the production and lack of atmosphere throughout.

If you are hoping for a classic or intelligent 'horror in the woods' type movie or even a classic witch or haunting tale, you will be very disappointed. Much of the movie simply revolves around a script that warns the protagonist about how haunted the woods are without actually delivering the goods. The build up transpires to nothing more than a big and somewhat ridiculous let down of a climax, having relied upon the awful dialogue that prevails throughout to get the viewer there.

I don't usually write reviews, but having known the area and the history of the Pendle witches all of my life, I felt compelled to save potential future viewers of this movie from watching. If you want genuine horror, you are better off reading a true account of what happened to the Pendle Witches, instead of watching this abomination.

I always have lived In the pendle area and i climb the HILL almost every weak in the summer, it is what got me into mountain climbing that takes up and down these fine wild isles. To my excitement when i found a film set about its past i was all ears. You can only imagine my disappointment when the film was not set in this area and the accents also not from around here. The mountains where too big and wild probably set in the lake district and canada and the forest also far too big. I now have an itching feeling that i must go and film my own pendle movie just to do us northerners something to be excited about.

I don't think I've ever been compelled to review before - which is a shame as some films deserve excellent reviews. This one however does not.

As a woman born and raised near Pendle and whose family hailed from this area I am more than well acquainted with the history.

FirstlyA the accents - I mean REALLY??! Art thou ever been to Lancashire ? Because you wouldn't bloody know from this!

The acting- diabolical. So hammy it could make a sandwich.

The storyline- laughable.

Please for the love of god will American filmmakers (and I hope the guy who made this is American because if not you have no excuse mate!) stop!! Just bloody stop!!

Even if they were mediocre actors a regional dialect would have made this slightly more believable - but for me it was the woman behind the bar in the scene where the American girl go to stays- she sounded like she might be from the Home Counties no where near Lancashire- and historically the American girl/girl from Lancashire in the 1700's would absolutely have had a regional dialect as would the father.

Take the fact they didn't know the area aside, the slow burn they tried to give was just a joke!

My daughter made better movies for her GCSE film.

Deserves a 0 rating at best.

Just awful. Bad acting, bad script, bad dialogues. Bad everything.

Who thought "Guys, this sounds like a great idea for a movie. Let's do this!

I've watched a lot of "haunting" movies and this one is definitely the worst of them all.