not horrible nor great

How sad is this?

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This movie lacks everything a good horror movie should have.Despite all that it is not all that bad, only slightly boring, the main storyline adds up to nothing at all ,though photography is good. The main actress is hot,cute,innocent, charming, and that comes as a satisfaction when the movie is not obviously so well made.

Wake The Witch is one of those indie horrors easily viewable on Youtube and I gave it ago expecting the worst.I immediately was drawn in, the characters were good, it looked the part and the musical score was deeply creepy.The trouble is this didn't last, the plot makes very little sense and this becomes evident before the half way mark.Again to it's credit the score is great, but sadly it's repeated throughout the film and becomes a bit much.The lead was excellent, she made the film bearable but this is her only movie credit which is a shame.The ending is dreadful and really is the cherry ontop of this mess.The Good: Memorable haunting score Excellent lead The Bad: Memorable haunting score gets very repetitive Loses steam early Plot makes no senseThings I Learnt From This Movie: Witches minions are hoodies It's best to invite police officers into your home before asking them for ID When finding a corpse in the woods, use your shirt to wipe up your vomit then leave your shirt next to the corpse to give the police DNA evidence that implicates you.....genius!

This represents my first (and most likely last) 'review' but I just felt obligated to offer my perspective. I applaud independent cinema the majority of the time as it completely shames nearly all of the god-awful bile gurgling forth from HollyWeird for decades (which we, The Unwashed Masses, wouldn't realize judging by the annual LoveFest that is the Oscars celebrating continuing mediocrity).This monstrosity is World Class Champion wrong on every possible level. I love intentional 'camp' (john waters, roger corman, paul bartel, et al) but the acting in this – or glaring lack thereof – set a new-low benchmark, by all involved.I can't really elaborate upon the other negative reviews of this film because it's all been covered. Incredibly irritating and amateurish 'music' throughout (sounds like a chimpanzee set loose in a studio…or anything off America's Idle), appalling acting, pitiful script, etc. I understand and enjoy an appropriate and well-executed 'slow, building pace' in a movie but in this particular instance it would be more aptly described as 'comatose'. It limps along for nearly TWO excruciating hours and then just unceremoniously ends, without any hint of plot-resolution. This should be shown full volume on an endless loop at the Guantanamo Bay facility.What I find to be the most offensive aspect about movies such as this are the outrageously-salutary reviews submitted in this forum (and other review sites). In my painful experience the more a film is touted as 'the most phenomenal cinematic event since Gone With The Wind' or whatever tripe, the more I get that sneaking suspicion it's going to be indescribably bad (like the truly nauseating 'Adventures of Power', the repulsive 'The Expendables', 'Ink', etc – check out their shameful over-the-top reviews on here). This is blatant dishonesty. Didn't Sony and other major studios get in serious trouble not long ago for disseminating absurdly-positive reviews/blurbs for movies by fictitious critics/publications? Now the same misleading tactics have proliferated all over the internet to the peril of deceived viewers such as myself. Run far far away from this train wreck. If you're desperate for something to watch, I would recommend real-time wind erosion over this mess. Or maybe an increasingly incomprehensible rant from Charlie Sheen.

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?