A WITCH IS A FOOL FOR LOVE IN THIS NOD TO VINTAGE EXPLOITATION
★★★☆☆ (Good for One Viewing)
Director: Anna Biller
2016
The Love Witch is a wonderful surprise for anyone who dabbles in filmmaking or appreciates the groovy dramatics of 1970s giallo or sexploitation horror films. The movie makes fun of these genres without ripping them to shreds. Biller saves her claws for the themes in old giallo, turning whiny female characters waiting for men to save them into lovelorn witches forced to question the supposed empowerment of their religion. In having our desperate heroine use her magical sexuality to find a man, any man, who will love and marry her, Biller’s winking at our 21st century disgust. The director’s incredible attention to detail, from macaroon colors to casting to furniture, is dazzling, but this amusing film isn’t as perfect as it looks. You watch The Love Witch for the technical genius more than the story, which drags almost one hour too long. If only I was as in awe of our titular witch as I was seeing someone using 35mm film.
Speaking of whiny female characters waiting for men to save them, Elaine (Samantha Robinson) is the doppelgänger of giallo princess, Edwige Fenech, an actress who has played some of the most helpless women in the biz: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, All the Colors of the Dark, The Case of the Bloody Iris… Robinson’s hammy performance is remarkable as she moves from one suitor to another, all while mixing magic potions and listening to inner dialogue that gives us clues to her motivations. These moments made me chuckle because they reminded me of Jan’s hallucinations in The Brady Bunch Movie, but Elaine’s are meant to give us valuable exposition. She’s not a slick witch who knows what she wants, but a lost, mentally-ill young woman who has been used as a footstool by all the men in her life. The Love Witch pushes an invisible message of girl-power by showing us how silly Elaine and all these women used to be. So much estrogen flows through this movie, you’ll start ovulating.
The best character in the film is Trish (Laura Waddell) a hapless friend with marriage problems. Despite Elaine’s glamorous makeup and wardrobe, Trish steals every scene right up to the campiest moment in the film, when she finds out her friend may be Wiccan but she sure ain’t into sisterhood. There are too many long spaces between this kind of action, which hurts the character of Elaine by causing her novelty to fade and her shtick to become grating.
There’s not much of a plot until a detective is told to investigate the circumstances of one of her dead paramours, but the stakes are low and we’re moved from one potential husband to another while suffering through periods of not much—though the “not much” is a few good laughs and gorgeous scenery. As I said, this movie is stunning to look at; the tearoom scene was so reminiscent of Hitchcock, I half expected Cary Grant to march across the floor and handcuff our heroine. The director/writer/editor—who you can tell worked unbelievably hard on this film—was so focused on paying homage to a bad vintage exploitation movie, that she forgot to eliminate the parts that make them awful or forgettable. She just couldn’t kill her darlings. The Love Witch is a feast for the eyes and a nap for the brain.
Though I probably won’t go back to The Love Witch, I’m glad I watched it. Films like this and The Editor (2014) make me excited for the future of horror because they’re using what’s gone out of style. These movies remind us that in a sea of screaming CGI nuns, there are young directors out there making a real effort to hone their talents. The Love Witch has proven that Anne Biller knows the alchemy for creating a beautiful-looking film. I hope her next one has a story that’s equally spellbinding.
GENRES: Atmospheric, Feminist-Friendly, Funny
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