One of the more interesting horror films in recent years

Rating: 7/10 (21 June 2016)

Slow-burn horror movie about a Puritan family in 17th century New England trying to survive their harsh life in the wilderness while battling their own demons as well as dealing with the threat of a creepy witch in the nearby woods. It's certainly a great-looking movie with an authentic period feel. The performances are all excellent. Two of the biggest complaints I've read are that (a) it's boring and (b) the witch is real and not just a metaphor or something like some would prefer. To the first complaint I would say that those people should stick with their found footage garbage. To the second complaint, which is coming primarily from certain types of critics, I say I'm glad the witch is real. I understand the power of suggestion and I value psychological horror as much as the next person, but it seems like the majority of movies made about witches, particularly about them during this period, have been unsubtle studies of persecution and superstition. That's all well and good, and interesting in its own way, but this is scary because the threat is real and you know it's real the whole film. Yes the family is at each other's throats and the bulk of the tension and drama comes from that, but the witch and who she serves are also a big part of the film and provide some of the most terrifying scenes. It's not a perfect movie by any means but I give it props for trying to do something different than the glut of banal exorcism, slasher, found footage, torture porn, and poltergeist movies that fill the horror field nowadays.