The Winter Witch

The locations and cinematography are excellent, with establishing scenes often shot through a slight misty autumnal haze, which is very effective. The acting is mixed - some lines are garbled on occasion, but what lets this down is the lack of incident in a very dull and uneventful story.

There is a lot of dialogue issued from curiously underwritten characters. For example, the estranged Frank (Jimmy 'The Bee' Bennett - also the film's location manager) is treated with contempt by former partner Ingrid (Rose Hakki) and admits he deserves such treatment, but it's never explained why. From the evidence onscreen, he seems a fairly decent character. Cult actress Rula Lenska is Omi, and it is to her we return during the course of the film where she is given reams of static exposition to unload.

This is a real shame as much of the production is really good. The pace is leaden, any frights are few and far between. It's not really a spoiler to say that we do see the witch from the title ... for a total of about ten seconds, mainly in the anti-climactic finale.

Director and writer Richard John Taylor has helmed a number of productions, many of them gangster yarns (starring the late Leslie Grantham, to whom the production company - Hello Princess - is dedicated). A strong co-writer or script editor would do wonders for future endeavours. A real mixed bag; my score is 4 out of 10.