WITCHES: THE DARKEST EVIL

WITCHES: THE DARKEST EVIL (THE DUNWICH HORROR) (2009)
US
Directed by Leigh Scott

CAST:
Griff Furst - Professor Walter Rice
Sarah Lieving - Professor Fay Morgan
Dean Stockwell - Dr. Henry Armitage

PLOT:
     In Louisiana, the thirty-five year old single mother Lavina delivers a evil into the world. Ten years later, Dr. Henry Armitage and his assistant Professor Fay Morgan discover that portlas are being opened to bring forth the Old Gods and must enlist the help of skeptic Professor Walter Rice to help them.

REVIEW:
      When  I first heard they were making a a new version of The Dunwich Horror I must admit that I wasn't that excited about it. Then I found out that Jeffrey Combs and Dean Stockwell were both cast to be in it. Needless to say, my expectations were slightly raised due to this. You have Combs who just seems like if there is a American produced Lovecraft film it seems as if he will be in it. Then there's Stockwell who was in the 1970's version of the movie. Problem was, I just couldn't find the movie no matter what. Maybe it was a sign that I shouldn't try to find it. And here we are two years later and you're reading my review of it. So hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

     Wow. I have never seen Dean Stockwell act this bad before. If he was trying to show emotion I could not tell as  every single face gesture was exactly the same. Well the only time it changed was after he got a face to face meeting with Yog-Sothoth. The after effect is just laughable it's so bad. Now as for Jeffrey Combs as Wilbur Whateley I can't tell if he hated being in the role or just couldn't decide what to do with his character for most of it. I really don't want to hate on Combs, but his acting was nowhere near where it should have been. Thankfully, all was not completely terrible on the acting front, the two bright spots in the whole movie were Griff Furst's Professor Walter Rice and Sarah Lieving's Professor Fay Morgan. These two were the most believable actors in the whole movie's run time as it actually seemed they were having fun in their roles. The one draw back is Furst's delivery of the most stupidest line in the whole movie. Yep, it is groan worthy!

     Now on to director Leigh Scott. I don't know what he was trying to do but the only time it worked is when the two Professors went into the Ward house. Other than that the camera work is shotty and jumpy. The action scenes are unwatchable or just isn't shown at all. It seems as if Scott watched Rob Zombie's House Of A Thousand Corpses before he made the movie, the reason why I say this is that whenever the movie goes to the Whateley house, the camera gets really jumpy, the film fades to black, and there are time slips which just confused me as it seems like all these things were put in for no reason, except to make the Whateley family seem more weird than they all ready are. There was just no reason that I could see Scott filming these scenes that way as it is confusing and to me is lazy.

     My biggest problem with the movie is that, even though it is based on a Lovecraft story it doesn't mean it will be better by throwing in all the Old Gods and Deities names. By doing this it seems like the writer was trying to impress the people that would watch this movie and it get's old quickly. Now for the special effects. Well they do have some in there, but it's all crap for the most part. Also to the writer, explain how exactly Stockwell got the power to shoot lighting out of his fingertips please. I really want to know. And as for the creature Yog-Sothoth, what was with the purple cloud he was always surrounded in. It made it look like the creature was made out of a tennis ball with paper machete attached to it. I could go on, but I'm not going to. So I'll just say it's best to avoid this movie if at all possible.

BEST DEATH:
     It's kinda sad that there really isn't any deaths shown in great detail on screen, so I'll just show put a picture of Combs' final moment instead.

BEST LINE:
     That is not dead can eternal lie,
     And with strange aeons even death may die.

FUN FACTS:
     A afro'd Dean Stockwell, who plays Dr. Armitage in this film, played the role of Wilbur Whateley in the 1970 version.

     Filmed in Lafayette, Louisiana.