My Review of The Love Witch (2016)

 

Written And Directed by Anna Biller

Richard: "Who are you? What are you doing to me?"

Elaine: "I'm the love witch! I'm your ultimate fantasy!"

Feminist witch themed movie, anyone? This was my second choice for a movie yesterday and it was a rather interesting experience. I've seen much acclaim for this movie over the years but this was a first time watch for me.

Set in the present day but paying tribute to 60s horror, you've got the titular witch herself. She's a woman named Elaine Parks (Samantha Robinson) and she's recently widowed. Actually, it's obvious from the start that she murdered her husband, Jerry (Stephen Wozniak). There's no ambiguity about that whatsoever.

Anyways, Elaine relocated to California and moved into a nice big house while working as an artist. She quickly befriended Trish Manning (Laura Waddle), a woman who had very different views on romance and was happily married to Richard (Robert Seeley). Trish wouldn't end the movie that way.

Elaine on the other hand was desperate to meet her mate and used love spells to attract both Richard and another guy named Wayne Peters (Jeffrey Vincent Parise). Richard and Wayne having big feelings for Elaine was a turn off and her rejection of both men (coupled with her not actually being good at casting love spells) saw both of them die rather horribly.

Richard's death in particular was somewhat of a beginning of the end for Elaine. Not only did she have to deal with Trish's wrath but her romance with Detective Griff Meadows (Gian Keys) ended up falling to pieces and she had actual feelings for him.

Elaine and Griff's romance was definitely the most intense part of the film but when he became wise to her, there was no going back. Even rescuing her from an angry mob didn't soften Griff and he ended up being brutally killed. The ending was definitely something to behold. 

- Elaine used a witch's bottle frequently in the movie. She even supplied them to a local store.

- There was some focus on Elaine's mentor, Barbara (Jennifer Ingrum) and the rather lecherous Gahan (Jared Sanford). We also saw a handfasting ritual and learned witches were barely tolerated.

- Standout music: Giselle DaMier's Fairy Lady.

- Chronology: Present day in Arcata, California.

The Love Witch (2016) definitely deserved it's acclaim. It's a beautiful nod to a bygone era of horror with a feminist twist that worked well. Samantha Robinson was incredible here.

Rating: 8 out of 10