h79423

While documentaries aren't usually written in the same way fiction is, there still exists a script. The first job of the script is to show potential financeers that there is something to the topic worth documenting and after that it's a preliminary plan. And while plans never survive the actual implementation it is still helpful to have one, because you will be better prepared when the plan fails.

That being said, I am pretty sure the plan with this movie was not this. Looking at this from the outside, it would seem that the filmmakers were interested in the occult and had a good basis to get funding in the form of the infamous Richard Stanley. It just turned out that Stanley became even more infamous during the process.

Personally, I am not religious at all, but I am interested in the spiritial paths people take. However, I have seen people use religion and spirituality as an excuse or.atonement, so I have a strong mistrust of these people. So, the experience of this movie was mostly about whether these people are true believers or not.

And it would seem that some are, some aren't.

This religion they practice seems like a step between paganism and Catholicism and is thus interesting. Their practice feels very much improvised rather than formal even though there seems to be some grimoires and other notes regarding their magic.

All in all an interesting look at the region they inhabit and the traditions that still live on in there, but then there is a twist that I'm not still quite sure about, but things just happen in documentaries, so the filmmakers didn't really have a choice and it is good that this was documented.

For context, I love folk horror, so keep that in mind while I fawn over this movie.

In this world witches are real and there is a lot of folklore surrounding them, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus on how to approach them. We do know that they come with the harvest and they have been coming earlier every year.

We follow three brothers who are brash enough to follow their friend to a grave of witch killed by the said friend. However, things go haywire and suddenly the brothers are in peril.

One thing to note is that not much happens in this 80 minute movie. It moves slowly. We kind of understand the dymanics between the three brothers, but not really. Especially the middle one doesn't really get much in the way of characterization.

Still, I like the world building, no matter how fragmented and inconsistent it is. Considering how varied the understanding regarding witches in different areas of the world has always been, this should not be a surprise.

Also, we never really see a witch, except for the dead one. There is no gore or violence, but I can't really call this psychological horror either, because we do learn at the very beginning that the danger is very real if badly understood.

We also have a b-story of a radio DJ and his producer on a nightshift taking calls. They don't necessarily add much except conflicting worldbuilding, which is interesting as a lot of people seem to know quite a bit, but how is any of this verifiable in any way?

Again, I liked it quite bit, but I can't really recommend it too strongly except for people specifically interested in this kind of weird horror, although it doesn't really go that far with the weirdness.