Sorry, this movie sucks

Memorable, crazy movie

Let's be realistic.

Best movie ever!

Wake the Witch NR/ 113 Min./ CC The Orchard/ English Director/ Screenwriter: Dorothy Booraem Stars: Rachel Lien Martin Kenna Pete LipinsDebbie and her friends go to Wilderness Park, where they inadvertently waken a witch. Hanged for crimes as a witch, and bound to the park by chains, her curse comes to life. Will Debbie and her friends survive? Or will they all die under the terrible curse?Decent acting skills. Better budget shows. I give this Five Stars.And a Thumbs Up for story line.

This is the longest student film I've ever seen. The script is episodic and loses its self in random teen drama; and it does not carry the elements of a well structured horror movie. The acting, music, and photography are mediocre at best. Maybe the acting could have been better if there was actual subtext in the dialogue, because everything the characters say is exactly on the nose. That just makes some bad cheese. Not a good thing. With the budget and production values they could have made a scary movie. But this just looks like a bad MTV teen dramedy with a witch. All the reviews that gave this high stars are honest liars, or they are blind, or have never seen a movie and this was their first.I feel bad for the Florida Independent companies because they keep making crap like this. And for the sites who praise the fact that the director is a woman and she made a horror movie; should actually watch the movie because this actually makes the stereotype that women can't make good horror movies even more true. I really hope another women is able to prove this stereotype wrong...If anything the script is the root to the failure of this script. Young directors should learn to see a good script from a bad one, and study the elements that make a good film fall in its genre. Once again, the script was episodic, and loses the horror elements with the saturated teen drama. Netflix is getting desperate, because they actually picked this up. This at least gives hope to all independent movie makers.

By far the worst movie that I have encountered in my life, wake the witch lacked even the humorous awfulness that Assualt of the Sasquatch possessed. The fact that this was shot in Lincoln is not only embarrassing to the university, but to me personally. This movie had absolutely no plot and 95% of the scenes could have been cut. You are in no way informed of what the movie is even about of where it is heading until the last minute, and even then it is confusing and not really explained. Luckily for the viewer, this movie is 114 minutes long, yep, thats right, close to two hours of absolutely worthless cinema. The scenes that they set up to be scary with the music, lighting, and camera angles, are all cut short before anything even happens. Its like the first few scenes of a paranormal activity movie, without the suspense. The acting is terrible and the cast is not what I would call ....competent The special effects were non existent, and the zombies, for 200 years old, sure were well dressed in their Aeropostal hooded sweatshirts. Its good to see that all of the money for costume and design went to the purchase of fake spider webs at hobby lobby. Which despite popular belief, do not really make movies scarier, just trashier. Overall, this is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. Save yourself 2 hours of distress and watch Frozen instead, at least that has wolf attacks.

Wake the Witch starts innocently enough. Two models and one female photographer are out in the woods taking pictures when one trips on a heavy chain hidden in the ground. The girls believe the chain could be part of town folklore about a woman who was labeled a witch a hundred years before. The legend tells of a woman who was captured and hung by the townspeople who believed she was responsible for a rash of local murdered children. The mob then wrapped her body in chains and buried her deep in the woods and now, if you find the end of the chain turn in a circle three times then kiss your left hand, the witch just may appear and tell you your future. The girls follow the chain with the intention of playing out the childhood ritual on the witch's grave, but the results turn deadly when friends and family begin to turn into beings that are less than human. Wake the Witch follows the life of the photographer Debbie (Stefanie Tapio) from the opening chapter. After the adventure in the woods that opens the film, we learn more of Deb's character through her encounters with her immediate family and her soon to be estranged boyfriend. Deb is revealed to have both a playful and a bitchy side that gives her character some depth in a film genre that doesn't usually delve into the deep end of the character development pool. Deb's friend Trixie (Rachel Lien) is the first to experience changes. A massive headache is the precursor to uncontrollable bleeding and eventually a fainting spell. Trixie is brought home where her symptoms are dismissed as being that of a strain of flu. Also affected by symptoms are Deb's brother Mark (Martin Kenna) and mother (Barbara Elias) which alienates Deb leaving her alone to piece together the connections between the mysterious events occurring around her and the infected illnesses of others. As is our curse when reviewing most horror/thriller films, we have to stop short of further explanation of the plot in an effort to leave subsequent screeners with the joys of a film's reveals. So as Deb combats wicked dreams, evil presences in the woods that chase and grab her best friend and a brother that continues to somehow be connected to all the plot developments, we exit here for the purpose of your screening pleasure. Wake the Witch is a valiant effort from writer/director Dorothy Booraem. Dorothy does seem to have a keen eye for framing scenes and she knew her limitations and didn't try to push the envelope with gore or special effects that would have seemed alien to the production structure. Instead, she keeps it simple. The witch's physical presence is in fact unnecessary and Booraem recognizes the non-importance of this reveal. Booraem does let the scenes run longer than necessary – which is common for writer/directors. The film clocks in at a hefty 114 minutes which is a long sit through for a film that could have easily scaled down some of the non-essential scenes to tighten the film into the more standard 90-minute range. The story is interesting enough and does introduce some original ideas to a classic formula. The inhabitants that chase Deb in the woods are freakishly effective and the script develops more atmosphere than it requests blood and gore. The acting doesn't stay consistent throughout the feature. Tapio, at times, shows brilliance as an actor but then might look out of place seconds later. Her co-stars (namely, Kenna, Lien and Karis Yanike) provide brilliant support which unfortunately overshadows Tapio in some of the stronger punctuated scenes involving emotional outpourings. Although the ending was somewhat of a disappointment we can safely recommend Wake the Witch – even if it is just a moderate acceptance. We receive multiple independent films on a weekly basis for which to review and Wake the Witch is neither the worst nor the best of the bunch. But considering the challenges it takes to bring an independent feature together (there is a Making Of ..as part of the bonus features of the disc), Booraem does well in her first feature length film to at least provide valued entertainment. And when you get right down to it – that's what it's all about, isn't it?