On August 9th, the Pickering Brothers’ first feature film Wicked Witches will be released in theatres in 10 markets. And the more I think about what I just watched, the more I know this film demands cinema viewing, which means a lot in a world of streaming services. It’s a film that doesn’t seem like it should work so well. At just an hour and nineteen-minute runtime, it’s atmospheric and bold, with clear influences from The Wicker Man’s (1973) daylight-infused horror. And yet, it’s still defined by the Pickering’s experience in music videos and TV with pulsating sequences of wicked tension and wild-but-works pacing.
Kicked out by his wife for infidelity, leaving behind a baby girl, protagonist Mark (Duncan Casey) hits the road to his hometown. In a stroke of luck (or magic), Mark finds a classified ad room-for-rent at his ol’ buddy Ian’s (Justin Marosa) party farm. But something is off with Ian, secretive and moody, with bursts of uncalled-for aggression. And things only get worse from there. Something is rotten in the basement, someone is lurking in the woods, and, of course, those damn nightmares. Struggling between tormented man and free bachelor, Mark plans a party at the farm for all his friends and all their drugs. It’s an all-night rager and in the morning, the drug-addled men are being led into the wood by three impossibly gorgeous women. Pagan symbols hang from trees, and something delicious is boiling in the cauldron. The trap is set, and it’s time to take the bait.
Watching Wicked Witches on my laptop in a darkened bedroom, I kept finding myself wishing I’d found the HDMI cable to hook up to the big ass TV. Sweeping canvases of the European countryside blanket the film, giving a maddening scope to the hopeless ordeal about to take place at Dumpling Farm. Add the hypnotic trance-synth score (composed by the Pickerings) and Wicked Witches takes on a meditative aesthetic of seclusion, isolation, and anxiety. The Pickering Brothers juxtapose the broad masters with tight close-ups when characters appear. A favorite shot of the bros is following a walking character at shoulder distance as the frame moves around them, chasing them down, creeping at their bootheels. All these anaesthetic pieces are disturbingly well-fitted, somewhat merry-go-round-esque, which only adds to an increasing sense of unease.
I would say this is a slow-burn, but only nine minutes into the film, the relevant discord starts chopping at our psyche. Time has an odd way of moving, with edits cutting hours and days in a disorienting fashion. Events are sped up at an unstable rate, yet linger in scenes with cultivated resolve. There’s a commitment to the pacing that, in other hands, would be frustrating, but when married with the style shifts between impressionistic and MTV-esque, it’s constantly interesting and well-formed. Avoiding the pitfalls of shutter-stop pacing, it’s the fastest slow-burn you’ll ever watch.
There seems to be only one aspect of Wicked Witches that struggles to capture the ravenous aesthetic the Pickering Brothers deliver in the first forty or so minutes. Unfortunately, that part is the witches. They’re menacing enough, lurking in the periphery of Mark’s life and haunting his dreams with surprising grue. But as the honey trap springs, there are some problems. Some live in the FX department, with anatomy somewhat thrown out the window in exchange for torn limbs. Most, however, live in the witches themselves. The actresses are oddly non-committal to their melee. It’s all too obvious they are holding back. Things break and tear too easily, or not easily enough, and for some reason they come off more like sorority girls trying to kick the boys out of their slumber party than horrifying demon spawn. It’s a drop off that was notable, especially because of the disarming escalation leading to the sequence. However, once it’s over, and the reigns of the narrative are given back to Mark, it swings back to potent, bloody horror.
There are many elements I felt myself relating to other big box office horrors of recent years. There’s a Get Out quality in Ian and the farm, a Midsommar feel to the English country vistas, and an As Above, So Below dimension to the witches lair. And while the Pickering Brothers don’t quite hit that filmic level yet, it’s obvious their next films will. They’re a duo on the rise.
If you’re lucky enough to have Wicked Witches released in a market near you, I highly recommend heading to your local theatre and enjoying the wickedly enjoyable jaunt. If you don’t, the film will be available on VOD and DVD August 9th from Midnight Releasing. Find the biggest TV you can.
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What is the name of the song that the band is playing when they are all getting drunk and doing drugs in the field. I can’t find that song talking about the witch. Please help.