A True Definition Of Psychological Terror!

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2016)

The Witch is one film that chills you to the bone and will warp your mind while you watch in fear, confusion, and anxiety. There hasn't been a horror film like this in a very long time. Any horror buff will agree that this film is a valuable gem in an underestimated genre. I had very high expectations on this film before seeing it, and it bargains much more than I expected, in which is highly rare nowadays.
The film takes place many years before the Salem Witch trials and it starts off with a Puritan family leaving a plantation, due to disagreement beliefs. They find good size piece of land that is outside of a dark forest and built themselves a cabin and a farm. Once their newborn baby disappeared under the care of the post- adolescent daughter named Thomasin, things go downhill from there for the family. Crops of corn go bad, no luck on hunting food, and an ongoing grudge between Thomasin and her mother Katherine. Things get much worse when they sense evil is coming from the forest and the only thing that can save them are prayers and faith. But, for how long?
The first thing that brought to my attention is the dialogue. It is an awesome idea that director and writer, Robert Eggers,had wrote it and execute it this way. It feels like we're seeing a prequel of the Crucible (I never saw the movie, but I've read the book. Unsure if the Winona Ryder film followed the original writing). Next, the atmosphere felt very authentic. You can sense absolute no civilization around the family and the cool, damp, New England weather, even though it was filmed in Canada. Third, the acting is tremendous! Nothing was campy, cheesy, or off. They felt like legit pilgrims on the screen. The father, played by Ralph Ineson, is my personal favorite character in the movie. It felt like I was watching a young Donald Sutherland. And last, but not least, the fear factor. It's intense. This film shows no mercy to the victims and to the viewers. There aren't that many casual jump-scares like in your everyday horror flicks, but just gives you a psychological fear that makes you highly uncomfortable. The fear just gradually builds up throughout the plot rather than spurts of scares here and there. It feels like a nightmare that you can't wake up from. After watching the movie, it makes you just speechless.
If you a huge horror fan that wants something completely fresh without the cliché, The Witch is for you. After you watch it, you can't stop talking about it. It's that good. Robert Eggers did such a fantastic job and will be a household name of horror such as Stephen King, George A. Romero, Guillermo del Toro and Sam Raimi. this maybe too soon say this because we're in February, but I believe that this is the best horror movie of the year. I don't know if any upcoming horror films that'll be releasing this year can top The Witch.