Witchfinder General

Witchfinder General (The Conqueror Worm)

1968

Director- Michael Reeves

Cast- Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Hilary Dwyer, Rupert Davies, Patrick Wymark, Robert Russell

            

    The witch persecution sub-genre is a niche  of the larger folk horror sub-genre. It was particularly popular from the late 1960s through the late 1970s. Despite the plots usually centering around witches and witchcraft, the sub-genre is often devoid of any real supernatural elements.

  

    The villains rather are sadistic holy men and frightened villagers who use religious duty as an excuse to indulge in perversion and murder. This movie holds true to form. The most satanic thing in this film is Vincent Price as the titular sadist.

   

    Witchfinder General is the most famous movie of this sub-genre and influenced several movies that came after it (such as Inquisition, Mark of the Devil, The Devils, Les Demons, and  The Bloody Judge.) 

    

    Though Vincent Price was usually cast as a villain, he was also usually a sort of lovable or camp villain; someone you liked and rooted for despite his nefarious plots. Not so in this movie. Witchfinder General is grim and Price’s portrayal is equally humorless. Apparently  a lot of this is due to the direction of Michael Reeves (who also directed She-Beast with Barbara Steele). 

    Reeves wanted Donald Pleasence but the studio went over his head and got Vincent Price. Reeves and Price didn't get along and Reeves was often unhappy with Price's performances and pushed him to do more. This tension translates to the screen. Though the two men didn't get along, Price would later say that he understood Reeves' vision and was grateful for the director's pushing him to such a memorable performance.

    The film has a fine cast including Richard Wynmark in a small role as Oliver Cromwell (who also appeared in Blood on Satan’s Claw) and Rupert Davies as a priest (he also played a priest that same year in Dracula has Risen from the Grave).

            

    The film takes place during the English Civil war of the 15th century. Price plays Mathew Hopkins (an actual historical figure who executed around 300 women in the span of a few years, all in the name of stamping out witchcraft). Witchfinder Hopkins is hired by villagers to investigate a local priest (Davies).

The priest is sheltering a beautiful young woman, Sara, who the Witchfinder takes a fancy to. As a quid pro quo, Hopkins spares the priest’s life in exchange for sex with Sara. Later, Hopkin’s assistant rapes Sara and this apparently causes Hopkins to lose any further interest in her. His plaything “spoiled” he decides to execute the priest for witchcraft along with several other villagers. After this, Sara’s fiancé, who has been off fighting in the war, finds out what has happened and sets out for revenge against Hopkins and his assistant.

           

   Its American release was billed under the unfortunate title, The Conqueror Worm, in an attempt to tie it, in the minds of potential viewers, to Price's other Poe pictures. For its time, the movie was considered shocking and violent, though the imitators that followed it were much more violent and shocking.  The plot is grounded in the historical events of its time which seems to make it more believable.  The movie is also usually considered one of the pillars of the Folk Horror genre, along with Blood on Satan's Claw and The Wicker Man). The main reason to watch this movie is to see Vincent Price playing one of his most villainous roles.

Lost Highway

Lost Highway

1997

Director- David Lynch

Cast- Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia, Robert Blake, Gary Busey, Richard Pryor, Lucy Butler, Michael Massee, Henry Rollins,

           

    Trying to describe a David Lynch movie by summarizing the plot is like describing the taste of a steak by telling you how it was cooked. The MPAA rating says “Bizarre violent and sexual content.” That’s probably as good of a description as any but here goes.

The movie begins with a ritzy Hollywood-esque couple. Fred (Bill Pullman) is a saxophonist married to his glamorous wife Rene (Patricia Arquette) looking like a modern day Bettie Page complete with dark hair and bangs. Something has created tension in their marriage but we don’t know what. It seems like it’s either infidelity or impotency (or maybe both) but we don’t know. Strange circumstances occur including  videotapes arriving at their house with footage of them sleeping and Fred meeting a mystery man (Robert Blake) who seems able to be in two places at once. Fred’s grasp on reality seems to be loosening until he finds a videotape of him having brutally murdered his wife, something he has no memory of. Fred is sentenced and put on death row.

            One day Fred disappears from his prison cell and is replaced by young Pete (Balthazar Getty). Pete doesn’t know how he wound up in the prison cell and no one knows where Fred went. The mystery unsolved, Pete goes home, trying to make sense of this strange occurrence. He is a mechanic and his best customer is Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia) a violent mobster with a drop dead gorgeous girlfriend, Alice, who looks exactly like Fred’s dead wife Rene except blonde. Alice (also Arquette) puts the moves on Pete, and despite his fear of her violent boyfriend, he starts a sexual relationship with her that descends into murder as she manipulates him.

            This film is a somber meditation on evil. Fred’s house is dark, everyone wears black. There is a long dark hallway that Fred disappears into, symbolic of the abyss. The characters are undone by their own base lusts and greed.

            As for Patricia Arquette’s twin characters of Rene and Alice well there are a few different possible interpretations. I think she is some kind of succubus, reincarnating and tempting men into evil. Both men, Fred and Pete, resort to murder. One kills her and another kills for her. Another interpretation could be that they are simply pawns themselves, sisters, used by the film’s evil architect, the mystery man.

     Regardless of any other interpretations, I don’t see any way to view Robert Blake’s

mystery man other than as a satanic figure. He looks like an imp, menacing and vile .He seems to be omnipresent  and omniscient. He is also there, behind the scenes, manipulating all of the characters, pushing them toward a catastrophic end.

            The movie seems, superficially, to be a rather grim noir crime story with unexplained supernatural elements. The film doesn’t resort to symbolism but rather the emotion of imagery, most of which is very dark. It also has  a great heavy metal/ industrial soundtrack with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Marylin Manson. Some of the movies best scenes are like short music videos combining disturbing imagery with unsettling music. This is a love it or hate it movie and I doubt most folks will feel ambivalent about it.

Little Nicky

Little Nicky

2000

Director- Steven Brill

Cast- Adam Sandler, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Tom "Tiny" Lister, Allen Covert, Jonathan Loughran, Peter Dante, Reese Witherspoon, Blake Clark, Rodney Dangerfield, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey

            Those hoping for a serious examination of Satanism had best go elsewhere. Those

hoping for a subtle comedy will be disappointed. But if you want something silly, and frankly, pretty entertaining, Little Nicky will fit the bill.

             As it turns out, the current Satan (Harvey Keitel) is the son of the previous Prince of Darkness (Rodney Dangerield). Satan is nearing the end of his appointed reign and is expected to turn over Hell to one of his three sons; conniving Adrian (Ifans), brutal Cassius (Lister) or schmuck Nicky. Satan decides to keep the throne for himself and his two evil sons decide to travel to Earth to turn it into their own Hell. This disrupts the cosmic balance and Nicky is sent to Hell to bring them back.

            Nicky meets Valerie (Arqutette), a homely starving artist that he falls in love with (and if you’ve seen Patricia Arquette in Lost Highway, you know they had to work pretty hard to make her look homely!) He is aided in his quest by his roommate, a talking dog and two metal heads. Along the way the cast is joined by many regulars from Adam Sandler’s other movies and a slew of celebrity cameos.

            Adam Sandler has perfected the art of being a schmuck. Some of his movies are more original than others, though they all tend to be variations on a theme. This is one of his funnier ones as it plays down most of the romantic comedy elements and relies more on sight gags.

            If you enjoy sophomoric humor, or if you are old enough to remember when parents were afraid that heavy metal was the secret message board for Satan, this movie will provide some light hearted devilish laughs.

Jennifer's Body

Jennifer’s Body

2009

Director- Karyn Kusama

Cast- Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, J. K. Simmons, Chris Pratt

           

Jennifer and Needy (Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried) are best friends in the rural, small town of Devil’s Kettle. Needy is the slightly nerdy girl who stays below the radar. Jennifer is the hottest girl in town but dreams of a glamorous life far away.

            They go to the town’s one bar to see a band. Jennifer is hoping to hook up with group’s lead singer. As it turns out, the band members are all Satanists and they kidnap Jennifer for use as a ritual sacrifice. Only one problem: they believe Jennifer is a virgin and she’s anything but. Screwing up on this vital ingredient means they’re ritual goes awry.

            Jennifer becomes a succubus who starts seducing her way through the town’s boy population, and eating them. Needy figures out what’s happening but predictably everyone else is unaware, so it’s up to her to confront her one time bestie turned cannibal temptress.

            Jennifer’s Body is not a straight forward fright film. It’s part horror part satire. It makes fun of the shallowness of youth and the general lack of awareness of adults. While not as cutting or clever as, say, Heathers, it does successfully combine humor with horror.

Megan Fox is one of those people like Ryan Reynolds . They’re so attractive it’s hard to take them seriously. Or another way of putting it, it’s hard to get around how attractive they are. Jennifer’s Body, though, is the perfect vehicle for her. Rather than trying to make her hotness an added attraction like in Transformers, it is the centerpiece. Who could be a more convincing succubus than a girl that was internationally labeled as a sex symbol?

That’s not to say that Fox gets by on her looks. She convincingly sells the act, alternating between sexy, evil, and funny. It’s too bad Megan hasn’t done more horror movies. I know they don’t pay the kind of money of Transformers, but she would make a hell of a scream queen.

Event Horizon

Event Horizon

1997

Director- Paul W.S. Anderson

Cast- Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neil, Joey Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Richard T. Jones, Sam Pertwee, Kathleen Quinlan, Jason Noseworthy

           

This filmed bombed in the box office but I have to assume it was marketed to the wrong audience as this is a very effective horror film. And make no mistake, it is horror. Though it has a science fiction setting, there is only enough sci-fi to move the plot along.

            Event Horizon has an  impressive genre bona fides.  Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) with Lawrence Fishburn (The Matrix) Sam Neil (Jurassic Park) Jason Isaccs (Harry Potter franchise) and Sam Pertwee (Dog Soldiers).

            The film asks a question similar to Prince of Darkness, that is, what if Hell is not a spiritual concept but an actual physical reality?

Dr. Weir (Sam Neil) has built a ship, The Event Horizon, capable of bending space in order to circumvent the limitations of the speed of light. But when the ship activated its warp drive, it disappeared, only to reappear seven years later. Enter Captain Miller (Fishburne) and his crew, tasked with escorting Weir to the lost ship and rescuing any survivors.

The ship’s crew is gone and it becomes quickly apparent that something horrible has happened to them. As the story unfolds, it is surmised that The Event Horizon had went to some other dimension, one of chaos and evil. The ship’s log leaves an ominous warning from its last captain: “liberate tutame ex inferis” or save yourself from hell!

The ship now seems to have its own evil intelligence and it goes to work on the new crew by exploiting their personal fears and guilt and engineering various deaths.

The film has an aesthetic similar to Aliens with environments that seem more familiar than futuristic. The setting is technically not in space but in Neptune’s ionosphere, which allows for things like thunder and lightning apparently. The demonic imagery seems to borrow from Hellraiser with lots of self-mutilation and ritual symbolism. Of special note is the ship’s drive core; a series of intricately detailed rings rotating around each other in a hypnotic rhythm. It has a cold beauty similar to the puzzle boxes in Hellraiser.

The film doesn’t have any of the originality of the various films it seems to borrow from, but it does combine these disparate elements effectively. 

Seventh Son

Seventh Son

2015

Director- Sergei Bodrov

Cast- Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore, Antje Traue, Olivia Williams, Djimon Hounsou, Kandyse McClure, Kit Harington, Jason Scott Lee

           

This fantasy tale gives us the classic opposites attract story. Julianne Moore plays a powerful witch bent on spreading evil. Jeff Bridges is the last of an order of witch hunters trying to stop her. In the middle is the witch hunter’s apprentice (Ben Barnes) who is in love with a half-witch (Alicia Vikander). As the witch hunters venture toward their final confrontation, they must fight the witch queen’s various servants, All the while, the star crossed lovers carry on their tryst.

            Though the plot is predictable, the film has some good looking monsters. The special effects were pretty good for its time. Genre fans will find many favorites in the cast; Alicia Vikander played Laura Croft in the 2018 Tomb Raider; Bens Barnes was in several of the Narnia films; Antje Traue (Man of Steel),Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story), Djimon Hounsou (Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica) all play witches. Game of Thrones fans will of course, recognize Kit Harrington as the apprentice’s doomed predecessor.

            Though a decent film it was doomed in post-production Hell. Filming began in early 2012, but it wasn’t released until 2015. This was due to a series of unfortunate events involving the bankruptcies and failed business deals of various companies involved in the film. By the time it finally saw the light of day, it was rather anti-climactic and I think fan interest had moved on.

The 7th Victim

The 7th Victim

1943

Director- Mark Robson

Cast- Kim Hunter, Tom Conway, Hugh Beaumont,  Erford Gage, Jean Brooks

           

This movie, about a girl trying to find her sister, is interesting not only for its plot but also because of its cast. It was produced by horror great Val Lewton (Isle of the Dead, I Walked with a Zombie) and is related to another Lewton pic (Cat People) through a shared character. It was the directorial debut for Mark Robson, who would later be nominated for an Oscar for Peyton Place.

            Mary is looking for her sister ,Jaqueline, whom no one has heard from in months. Her search leads her to Greenwich Village. She finds a lot of people who know Jaqueline but no one seems to know where she is. We hear a lot about what an impression Jaqueline makes. Mary’s search leads her to three men; a lawyer who was married to Jaqueline (played by Hugh Beamont, famous as the father Ward Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver , just let that sink in for a minute) ,a psychiatrist (Tom Conway, who played the same role in Cat People) and a down and out poet (Erford Gage).

            Mary’s search eventually reveals that Jaqueline has gotten involved with a group of “devil worshipers”, the Palladists (an actual 19^th century Satanic cult). It’s interesting to note the film never uses the term “Satanists”. Jaqueline has broken the cults code by talking to her psychiatrist about them and now they have declared she must die. Jaqueline doesn’t appear until the final quarter of the film, but when she does appear, the film changes its focus from Mary to Jaqueline in a way that is either jarring or disjointed depending on your perspective.

       Hollywood didn’t start exploring Satanism en masse until the 1960s so this movie was pretty far ahead of its time. Although it’s very moody in places, it still feels like a movie from the 1940s and doesn’t have the stylishness of horror movies that would come later. However, it also lacks the sensationalism of the 1960s. The devil worshipers wear regular clothing not black robes and rather than a pentagram, their occult symbol is double triangle within a parallelogram.

            Kim Hunter (who played the main character, Mary) may not be immediately recognizable but she had a long genre career. She played Zira in the first three planet of the apes movies and was also in the 1980s horror film The Kindred (that’s a long career!) .On the other hand, Erford Gage (the poet) had a very short career. He joined the Army and died liberating the Philippines from the Japanese. Jean Brooks, who plays the mysterious Jaqueline, died young from alcoholism. This is a bit ominous given that her character in the film was suffering from depression.

            If you are wanting thrills and chills, this film won’t deliver. However, if you want a thoughtful film with a good cast, that was 20 years ahead of its time, check this out.

Don't Deliver Us from Evil

Don’t Deliver Us from Evil

1971

Director- Joël Séria

Cast- Jeanne Goupil, Catherine Wagener

From France

           

This highly taboo film isn’t horror.  Neither Satan nor any of his minions make an appearance. There is nothing remotely supernatural in the film. In fact, the film is not really about anything. There isn’t much of a plot and it doesn’t seem to be making much of a point other than the contemplation of lust and abandonment to evil.

            It follows two young teenage girls, Anne and Lore, who are presented as practically lesbians and have both decided to devote their lives to evil. Most of their “evil” is teasing grown men with their sexuality.  However, it progresses into the sinister at times and the viewer wonders when the girls will go too far. Eventually, their schemes backfire and their life of lustful abandonment begins to unravel.

            The movie stirs up a lot of emotion. The girls are supposed to look underage so there is, I suppose, a measure of guilt to be associated with the unavoidable arousal that some of the scenes are intended to produce, such as Lore spreading her legs to a man she is attempting to entice. There is also a fair amount of sacrilege, such as the girls cheeking their communion wafers to later use in a ceremony where they dedicate their lives to Satan. The girl’s idea of Satanism is very naïve.  The occult never enters into it. But its naiveness makes it seem all the more perverse.

            I should point out, that compared with a lot of films in this era, Don’t Deliver Us from

Evil, has very little nudity and no sex. I suppose though, in the issue of quality over quantity, this movie wins out due to the Lolitaesque nature of its stars.

            There is the potential for interesting character exploration, but it never happens. Lore always seems to be the one trying to lure in the men, yet once she gets them, she fights off their advances and seems scared and repulsed. Anne, the more sociopathic of the two seems pointlesslessly cruel, yet there is a scene where she purposefully kills a bird and seems immediately sad and regretful.  Adolescent sexuality is not something most people or movies are willing to look at (notice how Leon the Professional was edited before opening in America), and this film takes a hard look at teenage sexuality brought to the surface, but we never get any insight. Exploring these themes could have made for a much more interesting film.

            That’s not to say the film is without merit. Art is supposed to elicit a reaction and I’d say all but the numbest will leave the film with some emotion; shock, arousal, guilt, anxiety, anger, etc.  The film was very controversial in its day and originally banned, though not for its sexuality but for its anti-Christian themes.  It has a beautiful score and the 2 girls are very believable.  Watch it not as a serious examination of evil but as an artistic weaving of taboos, and you’ll be satisfied.

The Lair of the White Worm

The Lair of the White Worm

1988

Director- Ken Russell

Cast- Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Capaldi, Sammi Davis, Stratford Johns, Paul Brooke

           

 

Amanda Donohe plays Lady Silvia, an English aristocrat and owner of a rural estate who is also the high priestess of Dionan, a long forgotten pagan god from a mythical past. Her god is manifested by a giant white serpent that lives underground and Lady Silvia periodically lures people to her estate and sacrifices them.

            Up against her is the newly dubbed Lord D’Ampton (Hugh Grant in a very early role), inheritor of the local manor and descendant of a legendary knight who supposedly slew a dragon. Aiding him is Angus, an archaeologist researching the local folklore (probably best known as one the Dr. Who’s). They get involved when two local girls (Catherine Oxenberg and Sammi Davis) are taken by the Lady Silvia.

            

   Though the film is not specifically satanic, there is an obvious Christian antagonism

with lots of sacrilegious imagery; nuns being raped, a snake eating a man on a cross, Lady

Silvia spitting venom on a crucifix. People familiar with Ken Russell’s more famous (or infamous work) The Devils won’t be surprised by this but it can be shocking if you’re not expecting it. There is also an obvious analogy between the serpent in the film and Satan, as evidenced when Lady Silvia mentions it being banished from Eden, or one of the victim’s being named Eve. In addition to the satanic motif, there is also an ongoing theme of vampirism, which is appropriate since it is based on a novel by Bram Stoker.

           

    Though the film is mostly serious, there are occasional tongue in cheek moments and it’s clear that both the director and lead actress were having fun pushing the serpent motif (such as a scene where Lady Silvia begins rhythmically gyrating to someone playing music, like a charmed snake).

          

  Amanda Donohoe is the main attraction here and she makes the film. Rather than the buxom sexpot that we usually see as the femme fatale, Amanda Donohoe is slim and sleek, almost androgynous. Her thin body makes her seem lithe and dangerous and perfectly fits a woman who doubles as a dangerous serpent.  Donohoe pushes her performance, becoming a truly hissable villain but being so charismatic that you can’t take your eyes off of her. Her make-up, when she transforms into her priestess mode, is beautiful; blue skin, yellow eyes, ridiculously long fangs. When out of that make up she looks less like a cleric and more like a fetish model for Skin Two; slicked hair, stiletto hills, latex and leather.

This movie has almost drifted into obscure cult status despite having some of the most memorable images you are likely to see. One of several good horror films made by the now defunct Vestron Pictures, it has finally gotten the Blu-ray treatment and is a worthy addition to any horror library. Fun and provocative, The Lair of the White Worm is entertaining, erotic and a little silly.

The First Power

The First Power

1990

Director- Robert Resnikoff

Cast- Lou Diamond Phillips, Jeff Kober, Tracy Griffith, Mykelti Williamson, Elizabeth Arlen

           

Lou Diamond Phillips plays detective Russel Logan, a hot shot cop who apparently specializes in taking down serial killers. A murderer is on the loose and the MO is Satanic, the victims having been ritually murdered with pentagrams carved into their chests.

            With an anonymous tip from a psychic (Tracy Griffith) Logan is able to track down the killer in exchange for a promise that he want kill the murderer or seek the death penalty. In a bloody confrontation, he catches his man, Patrick Channing (Jeff Tober). Logan quickly forgets his promise and seeks the death penalty. Channing seems pretty pleased with this outcome and with good reason.

            Channing, through his Satanic works, has been granted The First Power, the power of resurrection. He also seems to have been granted telepathic projection, the ability to possess others, flight, awesome fighting skills, etc. so whatever. Channing picks up where he left off with his murders. His first victims are Logan’s fellow cops (one played by Mykelti Williamson four years before he would become famous as Bubba in Forrest Gump).

            With the aid of his psychic informer and a nun (Elizabeth Arlen) who has apparently been studying these powers, he is able to finally confront and defeat Channing, with the aid of a special crucifix.

Though this plot seems to be the same as Exorcist 3 and Fallen it should be noted that this film came out before either of them, though it did come out a year after Shocker which was also very similar. Of all four films, The First Power lacked the star power of Fallen, a legendary director like Shocker or the legacy of Exorcist 3, Despite this, it makes the most out of what it has and is a decent occult thriller. It only has one cliché (the obligatory scene where the detective connects the crimes by drawing a pentagram on the map). Its gets a little silly in a few places (a bag lady possessed by Channing does martial arts and a scene where Channing chases the protagonists with a ceiling fan). For the most part though, it maintains a sense of urgency and Channing’s special powers allow for some surprises.

For fun, see if you can spot the cameos by David Gale (Reanimator) and Bill Mosely (House of 1000 Corpses).

The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project

1999

Director- Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez

Cast- Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard

      A trio of intrepid filmmakers is attempting to shoot a documentary about the local legend, The Blair Witch.  This takes them to a small Maryland town and then eventually into the woods outside of town. They get lost and encounter strange phenomenon like noises at night, rock formations, and wicker figures hanging from trees. They each begin to lose their cool and then eventually 

their minds. Finally, they meet their end at the hands of some unseen fiend.

            To be honest, I never liked this film. I saw it on VHS when it came out and then re-watched it 20 years later but my opinion didn’t change. The characters losing their cool and constantly arguing always annoyed me more than scared me.

            The reason that I reviewed the film here is that, regardless of my opinion, the film had a huge impact. It cost 60k to make but made a quarter of a billion dollars .That in itself is a convincing argument for any independent filmmaker to imitate its format. And imitate it they did. This was certainly not the first “found footage” film, not even the first found footage horror film but it popularized the technique and many other horror films have used it since, some more effectively, but none as successfully.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2

2000

Director- Joe Berlinger

Cast- Jeffrey Donovan, Erica Leerhsen, Stephen Barker Turner, Kim Director, Tristine Skyler, Lanny Flaherty

            This film proceeds from the premise that The Blair Witch Project was a hugely successful film but there is confusion as to whether or not it was a real documentary or a work of fiction. A new set of filmmakers sets out to investigate the phenomenon. The crew includes a much more colorful cast of characters including a former mental patient (Jeffery Donovan from the Sicario films), a Wiccan (Erica Leerhsen who went on to a successful career as a scream queen) and a psychic goth (the beautiful, buxom Kim Director).

            Rather than “found footage”, this is told in the traditional narrative style. Though successful, the film has largely been forgotten and panned by critics. Though the Blair Witch name contributed to its success, the film probably would have been better received if it had stood on its own.

Blair Witch

2016

Director- Adam Wingard

Cast- James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Valorie Curry, Corbin Reid, Brandon Scott, Wes Robinson

           

This film returns to the familiar themes of the original, being presented as found footage, and pretty much ignores the events of the second film. I imagine fans of the original were split into two camps; those that were glad to see the franchise return to its roots and those who didn’t see the point of trying to revisit old territory.

            In this installment, a brother of one of the original documentarians from the first film sets out years later to find evidence of his missing sister. Joining him is an eclectic group of young people (genre fans may recognize Valorie Curry and the looks-glamorous-even-in-the-woods Callie Hernandez) involved in shooting a new documentary (will these kids never learn?). The video camcorder and map of the first film have been replaced with a drone and GPS but the kids are still just as fool hardy.

            The film revisits all the territory of the original; the wooden stick figures hanging from trees, strange sounds at night, and the ever increasing tension as the cast turn on each other. Some new twists are added but overall it feels more like a reboot of the original than a new movie. Personally I thought it was scarier than the original.