For many a reason, I avoided a lot of horror films during the first decade of the century.
This is not to say because I was fearful, but mainly because all the films I heard I had heard of ended up being lousy (it was only until much later that I would finally go back and see the likes of the first Saw film, Let the Right One In, and some of The Conjuring films).
Horror films really began to appeal to me in 2014 with The Babadook. Of course, Jordan Peele entered the scene with Get Out (2017) and Us (2019). Yet it was the first film of Robert Eggers that struck me the most, The Witch (or The VVitch, as is shown on the poster.)
On first glance, it is rather deceptive. I mean, at the time, the film had an unknown director with pretty much unknown actors with a very typical title. Even the subject matter revolved around “witches” in Salem in the late 17th Century seems a simple matter to deal with.
Yet Eggers (who also wrote the script) brought a new kind of visceral that I for one never saw coming. He is also incredibly patient with letting the terror seep in, thanks in part to the almost too authentic cinematography by Jarin Blaschke (who has worked with Eggers all his films thus far).
While all the child actors are scarily good, it is always worth noting that one of those unknown young actors at the time was Anya Taylor-Joy. I am happy to say I was one of the first to say she was one to look out for in future projects, and I was right (this was before her turn as Beth in The Queen’s Gambit). She has an old quality beauty one would find in Classic Hollywood (along with very big, expressive eyes), while also having the acting chops to boot.
This is the first of four films Eggers has done to date, with The Lighthouse (2019), The Northman (2022), and his remake of Nosferatu (2024). He definitely has a thirst for dark fairy tales (and, in the case of The Lighthouse and The Northman, random scenes of flatulence). He is one of a handful of young directors I am always going to be eager to see what they have next in mind to share with the world of cinema, even if it is a terrifying goat.
Seriously, I have yet to encounter a more ghastly goat in cinema.
(At the time of this writing, The Witch is not streaming, but is available to rent on Amazon.)
Nothing else to say 