The Wretched

In terms of style, I didn’t find anything interesting in The Wretched, it felt like made in some sort of horror directors’ mill. Everything is rather passable, but not very creatively or innovatively executed. But this is enough for an average and mildly laudatory rating, taking into account that it’s a harmless consumer B-movie that hardly any fan will find offensive. What is definitely worth praise is one little twist related to the unreliable narrator, with I found very nicely put together, and for a moment took me by surprise because I was not expecting it in this not very ambitious type of film. (03/05/2020)

After his parents divorce, Ben moves to a small town to live with his father. He soon discovers that there is a mysterious evil lurking in the local woods, which ha set its sights on his little neighbour. Will he be able to stop it? The Wretched is a horror film with good scares, interesting characters and a fine eerie atmosphere. It's all the more disappointing that the makers decided to tell the audience practically everything important in the first quarter of an hour and then let the main character spend an hour revealing what the viewer already knows. Too bad. Otherwise, it’s really quite good. (26/05/2020)

Solid and atmospheric witch horror! I've been waiting for The Wretched for quite a long time and the positive feedback from festivals only confirmed that this is a really good piece of work. The story focuses on a young teenager who notices the strange behaviour of his neighbour, who transforms into a 1000 year old witch, and an atmospheric old school inferno begins. The film has a very good atmosphere, an interesting mythological backstory, perfect make-up work, enough suspense and likeable actors to keep the viewer's attention. The finale underground is quite possibly the scariest sequence of the year so far. Surprise. Story***, Action***, Humor>No, Violence***, Entertainment****, Music***, Visual****, Atmosphere****, Suspense****. 7.5/10. (01/05/2020)

Very good horror for 12 year-olds, and I don’t mean it in a bad way. It has likeable characters and a vicious demon immersed in an original concept, though in the end it surrenders to a well-known template, giving up the chance to surprise or shock. To watch once, though, it’s alright, especially perhaps with an easily scared girlfriend after a glass of wine (I watched it alone after several beers and maybe that’s why I’m not more satisfied). 60% (19/09/2020)

Un spectacle horrifique globalement supportable qui contient plusieurs idées visuelles intéressantes et recense avant tout des personnages centraux relativement sympathiques (ce qui n’est généralement pas lecas des films de ce genre). On y retrouve divers éléments piochés de Vampire, vous avez dit vampire ?, Evil Dead ou encore Paranoïak, sauf que The Wretched pèche par son manque de règles fixes par rapport aux pouvoirs et aux limitations de la sorcière, ce qui fait qu’il se passe plus ou moins constamment de nouvelles choses, comme si les scénaristes y mettaient ce qui les arrangeait sur le moment. Un instant, je me suis demandé si le retournement de situation dans la dernière partie du film, à la lumière des précédents événements, aurait du sens ou pas. J’en ai conclu que ça n’avait en fait pas la moindre importance, parce que ce retournement est absolument gratuit et futile, ne fait pas avancer le film, ni ne relance les dés à aucun moment, se contentant de créer un bref instant WTF qui se dissipe tout aussi vite. Avec une conception plus cohérente, le résultat aurait pu être à la hauteur. (14/08/2020)

The Wretched compiles elements, plot twists and characters from other films in various ways – it's hard to come up with something new these days – but it still manages to surprise in places. The film doesn't have that many scary scares and the blood is also spared, but that's not a bad thing – as they say, less is more. Moving past the various genre clichés, I was quite impressed by the plot about forgetting and especially by the few surprises awaiting at the end. Last but not least, I would like to highlight the visual of the witch and the graphic design of the opening credits. (02/08/2020)

I had hoped to be more forgiving when Pierce ditched the slapstick, that crunchy girl at the end is pretty cool, and crawling through underground tunnels with a gun always gives me flashbacks to the Vietcong. But it's really not worth it. The film spends most of its time trying to build some sort of rapport between the characters, revealing what terrible dead wood everyone involved is in terms of acting. Plus, a third of the dialogue is about food, because people probably don't have any other topics these days. The film could have ended about halfway through if the protagonist hadn't started babbling complete nonsense and instead just mentioned the neighbors' missing child. It feels artificial because the medium close-ups and close-ups have an exaggerated depth of field that pulls the characters out of their surroundings, and if I'm trying to create the illusion of menace coming from the forest, it’s simply not going to work unless I can shoot the forest in such a way that it doesn't feel like an city park. (27/10/2020)