I love a witch movie. It is one of my favorite little corners of the horror genre. They can be moody and thought provoking (The Witch, She Will), they can be colorful and strange (Suspiria, The Lords of Salem) and they can be a fun, scary story for a Halloween Night. The Heretiks falls squarely in that last category. Written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, and directed by Gregg Bishop, The Heretiks is an entertaining yarn, fit for a modern campfire, rooted in stories of spellcraft and sisterhood.
Ada (Josie Juliette Wert) is struggling. She is back at home after withdrawing from college. She hasn’t really stuck with anything in her life, is without direction, and is reminded of that fact every single day. She can’t seem to get out of the rut that she has seemingly been in her entire life. Ambitions, relationships—she just can’t seem to get it together. Now that she is home, she finds herself thrown into the position of surrogate mother and support system for her younger sister Mabel (Ava Mae Seidensticker), despite the fact that she is lacking the fortitude or the maturity to do so.
On Halloween night, the sisters (along with one of Mabel’s friends and Ada’s ex) are trapped in their home by a coven of witches, bent on bringing about the end of the world. They are aided by the former coven leader, Cai (Kimberly Epstein), who has splintered off from the group after she opposes their plan. Mabel has been chosen as the sacrifice that will bring reality to an end, destroying all that is and will ever be. Together, the group must band together to protect Mabel until sunrise, when the spell will dissipate and the opportunity to undo existence will be lost.
This film is a lot of fun. It’s never too heavy, it’s not looking to be a parable, and it’s just here to have a good time. But that being said, it does dig deeper than just being a story about “evil witches on the prowl doing evil stuff.” There is a lot of lore built into it, enriching the story. We learn a bit about the magic that the witches wield and where it comes from. The individual members of the villainous coven are all unique. As characters, they are a bit one dimensional, but as distinct baddies with unique traits and powers, they’re pretty fun. Details about the witches and their craft are slowly dispersed throughout the movie through Cai, which, unfortunately, makes her 1 part character, 2 parts exposition machine, but the result is still a lot of fun. Collins and Piotrowski put a lot of thought into the lore that stands behind our story, and it shows.
On the surface, it kind of sounds like a slightly more adult version of Hocus Pocus, but surprisingly, the film goes pretty hard. There are a lot of really great practical effects, and just because children are a part of this story, that doesn’t mean they will emerge from this Halloween night unharmed. There is a particular effect that is straight out of Hellraiser, and honestly, had my jaw hitting the floor. I never dreamed this film would go there, and the result was pretty great.
The cast is solid, with Ava Mae Seidensticker in particular standing out for her performance as Mabel. Her character has a lot of maturity and is very much in that place in life where the impending adulthood is at odds with the still present childhood, and Seidensticker navigates that space very well. She gives Mabel the necessary emotional substance to bring this character to life, while also leaving her very vulnerable at the same time. Josie Juliette Wert is a great opposite to her as Ava, with her immaturity being the perfect counterbalance to Mabel. She needs to be the one to step up and take control, but it’s hard for her to do so.
In the ever-growing world of witchy horror films, The Heretiks isn’t breaking any new ground, but that’s okay. It’s a FUN witchy movie; just here to have a good time. A good time that comes with a ton of gore, wicked practical effects, and a lot of heart. It’s the kind of movie you will be excited to dive into with a bowl of popcorn once the lights are out. If you have a taste for that, then I highly recommend adding The Heretiks to your list of Halloween viewing.
Movie Score: 3/5
Emily von Seele hails from Seattle, where it rains a lot, which gives her plenty of excuses to stay inside and watch movies. She has written for Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead, the Women in Horror Annual and Grim Magazine, and is co-host of the Dead Ringers podcast. You can usually catch Emily on Twitter (@horrorellablog), where she has been known to gab excessively about movies and tweet adorable pics of her two cats - seriously, they are the cutest ever.
Emily von Seele hails from Seattle, where it rains a lot, which gives her plenty of excuses to stay inside and watch movies. She has written for Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead, the Women in Horror Annual and Grim Magazine, and is co-host of the Dead Ringers podcast. You can usually catch Emily on Twitter (@horrorellablog), where she has been known to gab excessively about movies and tweet adorable pics of her two cats - seriously, they are the cutest ever.
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