Stars: Samantha Robinson, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, Laura Waddell
Storyline
Elaine, a beautiful young witch, is determined to find a man to love her. In her gothic Victorian apartment she makes spells and potions, and then picks up men and seduces them. However her spells work too well, and she ends up with a string of hapless victims. When she finally meets the man of her dreams, her desperation to be loved will drive her to the brink of insanity and murder. With a visual style that pays tribute to Technicolor thrillers of the 1970s, THE LOVE WITCH explores female fantasy and the repercussions of pathological narcissism.
Cast: Samantha Robinson -
Elaine
Jeffrey Vincent Parise -
Wayne
Laura Waddell -
Trish
Gian Keys -
Griff
Jared Sanford -
Gahan
Robert Seeley -
Richard
Jennifer Ingrum -
Barbara
Randy Evans -
Steve
Clive Ashborn -
Professor King
Lily Holleman -
Miss Curtis
Jennifer Couch -
Wendy
Stephen Wozniak -
Jerry
Giselle DaMier -
Harpist
April Showers -
Herself
Elle Evans -
Star
Trivia:
Much of the set decorations and costumes were hand made by the director. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 7/10
The first thing I have to say about The Love Witch is that it is one of
the most beautiful looking new films I have seen for quite some time.
Shot on 35mm it is sumptuously photographed, with exquisite use of
colour and costuming throughout. It's a treat for the eyes, clearly
going for the look of a film made in 1971. It achieves this very
successfully, except perhaps for the presence of background modern
vehicles and a scene with a mobile phone. Director Anna Biller – who
also impressively wrote and produced this as well as scored some of it
and made a lot of the great outfits – says that the film is supposed to
be set in contemporary times but to be honest it never feels this way!
This feels like it's circa 1970 all the way and, quite frankly, all the
better for it. This extends to the acting styles, lighting and
compositions, which all hark back to the styles of this earlier
glorious cinematic era. Topping it off, there is some music taken
directly from the 1971 films The Fifth Cord and A Lizard in a Woman's
Skin, both composed by soundtrack genius Ennio Morricone. These bits of
avant-garde mood music are full of tension and female sighs and really
fit into the feel of the film very well. The fact that the music also
comes specifically from Italian giallo films cannot also be a
coincidence. These stylish pulp thrillers hit their peak in the early
70's and much of the visual feel of The Love Witch felt like it was at
least partially a homage to the delirious colourful approach these
movies embraced back in the day.
The story is about an urban witch whose ultimate aim is to get the
perfect man. She moves to a new house and immediately starts ensnaring
men in her deadly web. Newcomer Samantha Robinson plays the title role
and she is very impressive. She certainly looks the part with her great
outfits and outstandingly provocative eye make-up. Her performance is
lightly erotic and humorous. There are in actual fact several somewhat
funny moments sprinkled throughout the movie with all of the actors
successfully contributing. Unusually for a film of its type, it has a
feminist message interwoven into it. Biller made the quite valid point
that if you want men to listen to feminist ideas in a movie then you
really have to include them in a film that they are liable to pitch up
to in the first place. To this end we have a film featuring, on the one
hand, a gorgeous seductive sensual witch, while at the same time, some
feminist theory added to the mix – so everyone's a winner basically.
It could probably be argued that at two hours it's a bit overlong. But
I loved the ambition and, in particular, the visual beauty of the
thing. It's certainly one of the more bold and interesting genre
experiments of recent years. Clearly it is going to divide audiences,
as it will be too much for some folks to fully get behind but I think
if you have a particular love of the early 70's strand of exploitation
cinema then this one has a pretty good chance of rocking your boat.
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