The Wicked (2013) Horror Witch

The Wicked (2013) - This is one of those not quite top of the line productions where there was obviously some money spent but something is not quite up to normal Hollywood studio standards. The acting is by lesser known people, the effects are just okay, the script is not a knockout. IMDB estimates the budget for this film at about 800k and that seems like it could be true. Still though this is a film that went straight to DVD in 2013 even though it was filmed in 2011, So it is with some trepidation that I wade into reviewing the film.
  The basic premise is that a group of teens are going to search for the witch in the woods. She is a local legend called the Wicked. We get a cold open before the credits to show that the legend of the town of Summerset is now active again. A little girl, Amanda (Caitlin Carmichael) is terrified in her bed while her Mother (Nicole Forester) comforts her. She is crying about The Wicked coming to get her. While out with her friend they went to the woods with an older sister of said friend and found the witch's house in the woods. The little girl threw a rock at it breaking a window. This act means to her that the witch will come and get her. Mom comforts her that it is just stories to scare little girls like her and then puts her to sleep. In the night though the girl wakes to her window being opened and the witch appearing (well at least her hands on the sill) A wind pulls the girl towards the window while the girl screams. Some special effects yellow waves in the air show us it is magic taking the girl. The Mom comes in but it is just after her daughter is taken. She screams for her through the broken window. It is not a badly done opening scene and sets the stage for the rest of the film.
  After that we get to the main story about a group of teens who are going to dare the same haunted woods. Max Reese (Devon Werkheisher) has just lost his Grandfather and the story lets us know that he was a magician. Max inherits his magic stuff including a witch's bottle, that his friend Sammy (Diana Hopper) promptly drops and breaks. That is a bad omen. The two of them are going to follow Max's older brother Zach (Justin Deeley) and his friends to the woods where The Wicked lives, along for fodder are Julie (Jess Adams), Tracy (Jackelyn Gauci) and Carter (Chase Yi) all various stereotypes of teenagers. They all know the old saying and should be expecting trouble, "Season of the Equinox, the witch besets her kill. One less soul in the town to know, taken against their will." but you know kids are kids. The lack of being at all weary of local legends is really lost on them. They give us a good amount of exposition about how the witch eats little kids to stay alive. Also about local disappearances over the years that are attributed to the witch.
  Part of the problem with the film is the heightened relationships between the characters. The Director Peter Winther plays the script by Michael Vickerman like a teen soap opera. The brother can't like each other, but not just like brothers might be they really don't seem to like each other. Teens are means to Sammy calling her a lesbian because she is a tomboy. The local deputy Karl accuses her of stealing because he doesn't like that Sammy's mom is an alcoholic. They at least pay this relationship off later but it really does not work because people just don't really treat each other this way. It is all way above being normal interactions and it really throws the viewer off. Everyone is a little rich and a lot douche and we probably won't feel for them when they get theirs.Then there is the music montage as Max and Sammy travel on bikes towards the same place his brother is going by car. uuugggg. So a little romance for the younger couple filler when we really just want the killing to start. At least we know who the possible survivors are.
  The plot is setup and when the older kids throw rocks one of them finds a window. Camping in the woods the creepy begins to happen as well as some flirtation and skinny dipping for Zach and Julie , sex between Tracy and Carter we are primed for them to get stalked but also possibly to run into Max and Sammy who throw their own rocks through the window.  The whispers that follow that and the creaking door, spook them but good. They run but are apparently taken by the witch. Julie finding little missing Amanda's teddy bear wants to go to the house to search  for the girl. Spookiness ensues, windows fix themselves and Julie and Zach find the little girl bound with an apple in her mouth in the root cellar. The pentagram on the floor down there should be an indication that this is one real witch. Of course we have not seen her yet so the threat level is still sort of low. This is about the half way point in the film so some bad has to start happening to these characters.
  Running from the house we hear the witch's screams when she learns her prize has been taken. She is now on the hunt for the older kids with little Amanda. The car is gone when they get back to their camp. When Zach finds his brother's bike he heads into the woods to find him at the witch house. The witch finally makes an appearance hunting and getting each of the rest of the group, except Julie and Amanda. Zach runs into Sammy and sends her off to the Rangers station while he goes back into the house to find his brother. Now there are characters that are going to win and many who will lose. The witch for her part is real and cocooning up people for sacrifice. Now you can probably guess the outcomes for the most part. This is a really clean movie as far as gore and not at all satisfying then suddenly there is a stew (brew) to be made and all that changes.
  Each time the witch drinks her brew she gets a bit younger, so more bodies need to be ground up and added to the mixture to get full youth. Luckily she has no problem catching the kids even if she can't seem to hold them long. The last thirty minutes is a whole lot of the witch knocking out future sacrifices and then them waking up and trying to get away only be be caught again. When the final confrontation happens there is nothing unexpected about it. We lose some people and we have some relationships healed but they never find the witch in the end. So we know the story of the Wicked will continue.
This is a tough film to stay engaged in but they worked hard to make something with a story and mythology so you have to give it some credit. There are some above low budget effects that are not too bad. In the end they even save little Amanda a nice touch.