★ 4 / 10
When the Past Haunts the Present
ChristopherLewisWheeler
Good evening, everyone! I'm Mr. C Reviewer, and tonight we'll be diving into the film Valley of the Witch, its also known as conjuring the dead. I had the…
Good evening, everyone! I'm Mr. C Reviewer, and tonight we'll be diving into the film Valley of the Witch, its also known as conjuring the dead. I had the opportunity to watch the movie on Netflix. This movie originally premiered on October 6, 2014. The movie had a runtime of 1 hour and 19 minute. It is rated for viewers aged 15 and older. Notably, parts of the film were filmed in Wales, UK. As an individual on the autism spectrum, I've experienced first-hand the significant benefits of subtitles. They have been instrumental in improving my comprehension of dialogue, allowing me to fully engage with the film's narrative. The film was directed and written by Andrew Jones.Summary: Kristen Matthews, a recently divorced woman, seeks a fresh start by moving from London to Cwmgwrach after inheriting her aunt's house. As she attempts to integrate into the community and befriends a local neighbour, a series of unexplainable suicides begin to plague the village, drawing her into the brewing evil.Review: -I found the opening credits to be a prolonged experience, lasting around four minutes, and visually dominated by unsettling imagery of women in pain, tied to crosses, interspersed with glimpses of a village hinting at witch-related themes. While background music was present, the only other audio consisted of the women's screams, and some of the visual clips appeared somewhat indistinct. I was initially captivated by the film's beginning; Kristen's arrival in a small Welsh village, seeking a fresh start, and her immediate immersion into the town's dark history of witchcraft, thanks to a local, set a promising stage. This early sequence, including a peculiar encounter on the road and glimpses of other characters, felt compelling. However, the narrative quickly became simplistic and fragmented, with many elements feeling vague and underdeveloped from the start. I found the movie compelling because it explored the insidious and pervasive nature of unresolved grievances, demonstrating how ancient evils and the pursuit of revenge inevitably can lead to dire consequences. I found the religious themes in the movie to be a detracting element from my personal viewing experience. I struggled to stay fully engaged with the film; its sluggish pace often led to boredom, and the slow build-up rarely culminated in impactful scares, leaving me underwhelmed. I felt the movie would have benefited greatly from more effective horror tropes, unexpected twists, and a heightened sense of impending dread to truly elevate its genre appeal. I found myself captivated by the dream sequences in the film, particularly appreciating the visual effects and the clever use of overlapping clips within each dream, which made them easily distinguishable and memorable. The acting felt okay, but often came across as stiff and unconvincing, lacking genuine emotion. It seemed like the cast struggled to embody their roles, making their performances feel more like a rehearsal than a true portrayal. Many actors appeared inexperienced, which showed in their hesitant delivery and awkward movements. I felt the screaming scenes, in particular, could have been more powerful if the emotional intensity matched the characters' situations better. The continuous screaming, without any breaks for breathe or other reactions like flinching or sobbing, made the characters' responses feel less real and impactful. I would have preferred the dialogue to be more nuanced and immersive. Instead of characters explicitly stating facts, information could have been woven into casual conversations, reactions to events, or visual cues, making interactions feel more authentic with natural pauses and non-verbal cues. I believe the film would have been more impactful with a more original and memorable score that genuinely built tension and dread, rather than resorting to stock horror music tropes. The sound design could have been improved with greater subtlety in sound effects, avoiding the overuse of loud jump scares that felt unearned. I found the music at times to be excessively loud during dialogue, making it difficult to understand what characters were saying. With some scenes with only dialogue and no background music felt awkward. There were also instances where the music completely overshadowed character dialogue, rendering it inaudible,, detracting from the overall immersion.-I found the film's impact significantly heightened by the incredibly realistic depiction of gore, though I felt the prosthetics, while acceptable, didn't quite achieve the same level of authenticity. I felt the film's visual presentation was hindered by poor and inconsistent lighting, which obscured scenes and undermined the atmosphere. The camera work was generally uninspired, and fight sequences lacked believable choreography, appearing clunky rather than dynamic. While some eerie shots occasionally worked, the camera sometimes zoomed in too tightly, making certain scenes difficult to watch and less enjoyable. I found the unwavering dark and flat colour palette, while contributing to a sense of foreboding, ultimately limited the visual impact; I believe a more intentional use of colour, perhaps warmer tones for false hope or starker contrasts for scares, would have enhanced the mood and overall experience. I believe the setting, despite its natural, wooded backdrop hinting at isolation, ultimately felt like a missed opportunity, hampered by budget and a lack of creative execution that kept it from truly elevating the film's horror premise.-I found the ending to be acceptable, though I was somewhat disappointed by its abruptness and the absence of a truly satisfying narrative resolution, despite appreciating the effort to create an unsettling, open-ended conclusion. I enjoyed the ending credits, which featured a dynamic sequence of character clips from the movie that would then pause to display the corresponding actor's credit. While watching the film, I occasionally felt a resemblance to the 2023 movie Punch.I rate each film I watch out of 10 and for this one, I give it a 4.4 Remember this was what I thought about the movie personally and I suggest that you give it a go for yourself.
Read full review
★ 3 / 10
Not good...
nikoslkp
Not only is the plot simple and boring, but the CGI used is also very, very bad. The acting is not bad but it's not good either. I would personally not…
Not only is the plot simple and boring, but the CGI used is also very, very bad. The acting is not bad but it's not good either. I would personally not recommend this movie to anyone, given the fact that I'm still regretting spending my evening with my friends watching this instead of doing something much more interesting and fun.
Read full review
80%
AUDIENCE
3.1/10
497
