“It’s Halloween, it’s creepy, that’s why it’s a good dare.”

Story: Meadowcrest Mansion is abandoned, and has a slew of creepy stories surrounding it. One year after a local teen’s disappearance, a group of college folks (and Token Stayed Home Dude) decide hit the house on Halloween. Par-tay! What could go wrong? They’re not too bright, our gang.

Scares: A few effective chills.

Splat factor: Little more than blood and smoke. One well done skin peeling scene.
Closing scene “shocker”?: Yeah, but unless you’ve fallen asleep halfway through, you’ll know it’s coming.

Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Original, but loads of clichés you’ve seen elsewhere.

Trick or Treat?: Seriously, these coeds are idiots. Walls bleed? “Find another room [to bang in] I guess!” Things really go south? Split up! It’s lazy slasher trope city here.

Seems nobody decided to read the screenplay for continuity either. Last Boy goes from “the only way to save anyone is to find a way out” to “I’m tired of running” in one scene. Huh? I feel character whiplash. And. ..if a teen vanished LAST YEAR, why doesn’t anyone in our gang know? All but one are in college, but that one townie dude? C’mon, townie would have heard something.

But the FX is pretty, once you get used to the silly CGI. A ghost in white doing all sorts of  strange moves. Very computer, much bad. Don’t get me started on the smoke/ghost/stuff. Sigh. Practical FX and makeup are on freakin point though,including a suitably muddy escape from the house by Final Girl ala The Descent and some slimy pond shenanigans.

Yeah, I keep calling the characters “our gang” because I can’t be assed to know their names. Pity, as the actors are really giving it their all. They – and their believable reactions to the ghostly goings on – are the best part of Witch, pulling it up from low budget schlock, into decently meh. I’ll be looking for these performers in other, hopefully better, fare.

Score: 2.5 out of 5 pumpkins. A good one to watch while you’re doing something else.