MOVIE: Season of the Witch

STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy, Robert Sheehan, Stephen Campbell Moore, Ulrich Thomsen

RELEASE DATE: January 7th, 2011

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Starz, Amazon Prime)

By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)

I’m a sucker for films set in medieval times. Especially when magic and supernatural elements are involved. Films like Lord of the Rings, Willow, & as previously stated several times, The Green Knight. So, you throw in Nicolas Cage AND Ron Perlman, how could I possibly ignore it. Well, turns out, I have never seen this one. So, considering the track record so far with “The Nic Gauge”, I kept my expectations pretty low, especially after the last entry.

Season of the Witch takes place in the 14th century and revolves around two knights, Behman (played by Cage) and Felson (played by Perlman), that were fighting in the crusades. But after one battle, they realize they are just butchering women and children in “the name of God” and desert their posts and leave for home in Austria. A month after they have returned, they learn that the people have been infected with The Black Death. When they enter a town for supplies, they are arrested for their desertion and are then tasked by the cardinal (played by Christopher Lee) to take a woman (played by Claire Foy) to a remote monastery. The woman is accused of witchcraft and must be put to trial.

This film was awkward. That is the best way I can put it.

The first portion of introducing Behman and Felson is fine. The lead-up to taking the woman to the monastery is fine. Once they leave for the actual adventure is where everything starts going south. The main chunk of this trip is just everyone arguing on whether or not the woman is actually a witch, while actual witchcraft is happening. The woman calls upon wolves to come kill everyone and she tricks one guy into killing another. So, you would think it would be safe to say she is actually a witch. Spoiler alert, you find out in the third act that she is actually possessed by a demon. That discovery kind of kills the momentum of the film (on top of terrible early 2010’s special effects). You are conditioned to believe that by the end of the film, there will be a final showdown between Cage and a witch.To then take the weird route and switch the witch into a demon just does a horrible disservice to the audience. To add to it, the special effects on the demon feel incomplete and very muddy looking, making the film feel very unfinished.

This film started out being in the middle of “The Nic Gauge”, but as it reached the hour mark, it started plummeting. Once the film finished, it now sits comfortably on the lower end of “Terrible”.