A Horror Tale that Plays 'Peek-a-BOO" with the Audience

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 2016)

Ominous Folk-Tale of Oppression and Religious Fundamentalism causing Madness. Set in the Early 1600's on the Eve of the Salem Witch Trials, there are Puritan Communities seeking refuge from Persecution that came to America and began to Persecute.
First Time Director Eggers has an Attention to Detail in the Production Design that makes this Seem as though it was Filmed On-Sight in Real Time as it was happening, even to the Questionable Decision to have His Characters Speak in "Thee and Thou" Style.
While this may have been an Ode to Believability it might have Alienated Non-Eggheads and Isolated an Audience that could have Benefited from His Message.
That one Glaring Flaw aside, everything else the Director puts On Screen is Captivating. The Acting is Superb, the Costumes and the Damp and Dreary Motif is Meticulously Melodramatic, harking back to the Hammer and Corman Horror Films of 1960's with New Millennium Concerns and Sensibilities.
The Film Plays "Peek-A-Boo" with the Audience as it is Never Clear what is Real and what is a Psychotic Break and Hallucinatory. In the End it Remains Unclear.
What is Crystal is that this is an Indie-Experiment that is Artistically Crafted and Sharply Philosophical about the Dangers Lurking about to This Day. Ignorance, Zealotry, and Madness resulting from Evil that did not Remain in the 1600's.
Televangelist Pat Robertson in (1991)..."The Feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a Socialist, anti-family Political movement that encourages Women to leave their Husbands, kill their Children, practice Witchcraft, destroy Capitalism and become Lesbians."
In 2016 just turn on the TV or Surf the Internet for more Evidence that this Film has as much to say about Today as it does about 1630.