AC
Andrea Costantini
•A legend has been passed down for centuries in the town of Summerset. A witch, who survived the stake hundreds of years ago, seems to return every equinox to take someone away. Legend or truth? No one knows, but little Amanda disappears into nothingness one night, right at the equinox. Meanwhile, a group of local teens, equipped with tents and various gear, decide to visit the house in the woods where it is rumored the witch lives. Needless to say, the legend will turn into reality.
Any producer/director/cinematographer, having reached the year 2013, should ask themselves some questions about what is worth filming and what is worth leaving in the drawer. Take, for example, Peter Winther, whose profession is director, who decides to take on the responsibility of making a film with a witch as the villain, one of those bad ones who put people in the meat grinder to make magical potions. It can be done; as an idea, it's not bad given the
proliferation in recent years of the undead such as bloodsuckers and zombies, which, frankly, we are starting to get tired of. The witch is a villain of respect, recently back in fashion. If the creator of the story is good, maybe they can come up with something that rocks, because witches are ugly, they scare everyone, and they are very bad.
Okay, the villain has been identified. But it's not enough to have a villain to make a horror movie. You also need a story, a plot. It's true that often it's an optional element missing in most films of the genre that we love so much, but it's an element that, if present, doesn't hurt. Therefore, the aforementioned witch is introduced within a legend that has been passed down for centuries, and she is placed in a house in the woods. Someone wakes her up, and she sows panic.
Plot decided, but it's still not enough. Another very important element is missing that, unlike the plot, is absolutely necessary: the cannon fodder, i.e., the protagonists. Do we want to make a horror movie where people survive? Let's see who has been chosen this time to be gutted: a group of elderly people in a nursing home? People with a bad appearance who might even be intelligent? Of course not! The protagonists are muscular guys along with the hottest girls around, dressed as little as possible.
Nothing else is missing; the massacre can begin, but since here we try to do things right, before seeing a drop of blood, an hour of the movie passes, so there is time to get to know well those who will be seen dying in the second part.
Told like this, "The Wicked" seems like a bad product, made without heart and commitment. Partly it is, because it is surely not one of those films that stay in memory. It is, however, a banal, overseen product made with a few coins. But on the other hand, a few lances need to be broken in favor of Peter Winther's small work, (who as a director is a bit more than no one but has been an associate producer of Emmerich's films like "Independence Day" and "Stargate"), namely that he has a decent realization to his credit. Although it has all the defects related to costs, tricks, and acting that a direct-to-video film can have, "The Wicked" has a good first part in which it introduces the characters (who more stereotypical cannot be) taking its time.
The border with boredom is very thin, but there is a good escalation that allows the viewer to keep their eyes on the TV waiting for something to happen, and that's a positive thing in a horror movie. Despite the banality of the characters, who become more and more predictable as the minutes pass, there is still pleasure in seeing that the times are respected. Therefore, after almost an hour of the movie, curiosity begins to arise about this ghostly witch, who remains a shadow throughout the first half. Although it may seem like a flaw, in reality, this wait serves to maintain a bit of attention. Because in the norm, in films like this, once the monster is revealed, boredom sets in.
As if we had called it, boredom arrives in the last part, made of murders and chases that border on ridiculous, although the character of the witch is the most classic, of fairy-tale representation: she lives in a basement full of candles and magical objects, has a cauldron in which she puts the hair of the victims, and has a single purpose that makes the witches of all fairy tales the worst of all: eating people to become beautiful. Badly made up but conceptually effective.
In short, a bad movie that, however, can be watched until the end.
"The Wicked" was distributed in Italy on home video by 01 Distribution and One Movie in DVD format. The extra contents included on the disc are: Original trailer and Making of.