This isn’t going to be a proper review of the The Witch.  So much has already been said so recently about it’s merits and themes that I couldn’t hope to add anything of significance to the volume of words on the subject. 

But I do have some thoughts on the reaction of some horror fans to this movie and others like it.  There seems to be a disconnect between the kind of horror movies critics love and the kind of horror movies that fans of the genre love. 

Now, fair warning, I’m going to be making some BROAD generalizations here about Horror Fans and Film Critics; hopefully I can be forgiven for painting two such complex and varied groups with such a wide brush in the service of making my point.  But far too often we see films getting buzz in the festival circuits that don’t connect with the general public when they get a wider release.  And it’s true in more than just horror. 

Where does this disconnect come from?  I would argue that it’s all about formula. 

Formula is a four letter word to most story tellers.  It conjures up ideas of stiff unoriginality and boring rehashed plot points.  But the truth is, formula is an incredibly useful tool in the story teller’s workshop.  When you’re telling a story to a particular audience it behooves you to know what that audience expects (even if you’re not planning on giving them that).  You can write a long brooding contemplation on the inevitibility of man’s self-destruction and call it a romance, but romance readers aren’t going to go for that.  You can make an action movie where the hero breaks down halfway through and commits suicide because of the pressure of combat, but action movie fans probably aren’t going to embrace that.  Regardless of how good or bad those stories might be, if they don’t fit the formula of what the audience is expecting, some members of that audience are going to be disappointed. 

That formula is important because people go to movies they already expect to enjoy.  And the best way for them to form that expectation is by comparing the movie they’re going to see with movies they have already seen. 

BUT. 

On the other hand you have the critics.  Critics are not, as a rule, an audience, nor are they often horror fans.  But critics have to see all the movies. 

So when you force them to watch a movie like Silent Night, Deadly Night, a movie made in the mold of a hundred other movies they already didn’t like, the odds are good they aren’t going to like that one either.  But when a film like The Babadook, or The Witch comes along, it takes them by surprise.  It doesn’t follow the formula they’ve been suffering through for years and years.  So they come out with a glowing review.  Buzz starts to develop around those films.  Fans start to get excited. 

And time and again there are some horror fans who end up disappointed. 

It’s not really the critics’ fault.  A film critic has to consider a film in the context of the whole of cinema.  She has to weigh it against dramas and comedies and westerns and romcoms. 

But horror fans judge a film by its merits within the genre.  They come to the table with a built-in love for slasher films or creepy haunted house stories, and so they judge the movie they’re watching based on those criteria.  They might complain that The Witch is boring because it doesn’t fit the pattern.  It’s all build and no resolution, all tension and very few actual scares. 

And the truth of the matter is, neither side is wrong.  They’re both bringing their experience and interest to the table interpreting the film through that.  There aren’t any rules for appreciating movies.  If you like gory slasher films with lots of jump scares, your enjoyment is no less valid than the critic who appreciates a slow burn character study. 

We’re all just people, sharing how we feel.  Our truth is only absolute to us. 

Albert lives in Florida where the humidity has driven him halfway to madness, and his children have finished the job.  He is the author of The Mulch Pile and A Prairie Home Apocalypse or: What the Dog Saw . 

To hear more of our thoughts on The Witch check out Episode 181 of the Human Echoes Podcast.