The Witch
2024 IMAX Re-release
with the help of (relatively) smaller labels and distributors, there have been many great modern western horror films in recent years that evoke terror not through cheap thrills and jump-scares, but by refocusing and creating tones, atmospheres and feelings of pure dread and evil. My personal favorite is Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 reimagining of Suspiria, though Ari Aster has probably penetrated the mainstream most effectively through films like Hereditary and Midsommar. This year has also seen the success of Osgood Perkin’s Longlegs, following his underrated string of late 2010s horror films. i believe the person to first embark on this amazing return to mainstream cerebral horror is Robert Eggers and this enchanting film.
Eggers, through his steady, stripped back, and period accurate vision, portrays folk tales in ways that you can’t help but get fully absorbed into. thematic depth, technical prowess and myth creation all work in tandem here, something i believe Eggers has accomplished with all of his work so far, but The Witch stands out for me as an insanely authentic, goosebump inducing, spine chilling cinematic experience. can’t wait for his return to horror with Nosferatu.