VERY uneasy mix of horror, humor and drama

Rating: 6/10 (4 February 2013)

Siblings Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) are witch hunters. They're hired by the mayor of a local town where 12 children have been abducted by witches. It seems an evil powerful witch (Famke Jenssen) has them and is setting up some big ritual that will make her more powerful than any other witch.
The story is kind of vague but this was obviously heavily cut before it was released. There are plot loopholes galore and a creature named Edward appears out of nowhere and is never explained. And Hansel is (for no discernible reason) a diabetic! The horror, humor and drama never mesh together comfortably. Still this isn't a disaster. There's plenty of exciting fights and plenty of way over the top gore--but it's too silly to take seriously. There's also excellent special effects and a great score. Renner is just OK as Hansel but Arterton is excellent as Gretel. Jenssen is pretty bad--she's admitted she did it for the money--and it shows. It's not the disaster I heard it was but it's no great shakes either. I give it a 6.