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Cast: Devon Werkheiser, Justin Deeley, Jess Adams, Jaime Kaler, Caitlin Carmichael, Diana Hopper
Local stories warn that deep in the woods, a witch with a ravenous hunger feeds on the flesh of the young. In an abandoned house in the woods, she hunts her victims…and if you try to enter, you'll never see daylight again. When another child goes missing, a group of local teenagers decide to find out if the urban legend is true. What starts out as a meaningless dare turns into a blood-spattered fight for survival against a mistress of darkness in this unrelenting nightmare from which you may never wake up!
It is a bedtime story nearly every kid in the small town of Summerset has heard. A silly story passed down from generation to generation that offers just enough chills to keep the legend alive. This year is different. Seven year old Amanda Drake (Caitlin Carmichael) is swiped from her bedroom window. Rumors swirl. The Witch has returned. Always up for a good fright, and a chance to impress the girls, 18 year old Zach (Justin Deeley) and his friends decide to sneak into the woods and find the mysterious old house where the legendary Witch supposedly lives. Unbeknownst to Zach, his younger brother Max (Devon Werkheiser) and Max's "girlfriend" Sammy (Diana Hopper) sneak along. They all soon discover that folklore isn't always myth and that bedtime stories sometimes come true. The Witch has indeed returned with the intent of casting her magical spells to deceive, hunt and ultimately consume the local children to keep her young, older ones to keep her strong and pretty ones to keep her beautiful. Zach and Max, who can't stand each other, and their teenage friends find themselves trapped in the Witch's lair. They must bury their differences or be buried themselves. There is no escape from "The Wicked" once the spell has been cast.
There isn't much to add plot wise without totally ruining the film for those waiting to see it. So I am not going to go into any major details here but I can talk about the film in general. The film's opening seen is both suspenseful and terrifying but after that the film kind of settles in as the film focuses more on the back story of the witch and introducing us to it's main characters. This does take a while but once the action picks back up it's pretty much non-stop all the way to the end.
"The Wicked" is an entertaining Indie flick but to be honest I was expecting more from it. I can't really pinpoint what it was about the film that was a let down but it seemed to just hang between being an all out frightful horror flick and an episode of "Goosebumps." Either would of been fine but it doesn't seem to want to make up it's mind. Everything else about the film was pretty good considering that the budget here wasn't very high which leaves us with average special effects at best but that is one thing I didn't have a problem with and was expecting really considering this is an Independent film.
The cast did a excellent job playing their characters and the witch is pretty creepy to say the least, so even with it's flaws the film still manages to be enjoyable, there's a good bit of drama, a dose of comedy and plenty of suspense as well as a number of good scares to keep you engaged. One thing I noticed was that the DVD promises a "Making Of" but it seems to be absent for whatever reason. A behind the scenes would of been cool but the film is worth checking out regardless. Like I already stated I myself was expecting a more frightening horror film here so I was letdown a little bit but that doesn't mean I didn't like or enjoy the film because I did but I can't help but think that this could of been something really special and it seemed to fall a bit short. Either way if you like horror I recommend checking this out, it's certainly makes for an entertaining time and I'm sure a lot of you will find it to me mosre enjoyable than I did.
Released by Image Entertainment
*** 1/2 Out Of *****