Seven year old Jess (Mercy Gaiger) and her alcoholic mum (Samira
Mohamed Ali) have moved to Haslem, a quiet village in the countryside -
but soon find out they're not exactly welcomed here. And while mum's too
out of it to notice most of the time, Jess receives the brunt of it, being
bullied and the like. Now Jess's mum really makes an effort to stand up
for her daughter, but who will take a drunk like her seriously, right? If
anything, the attacks on Jess increase, until she's brutalized by two
school kids (Charlie Glossop, Alexandra Eve Tordoff), and something inside
her snaps ... and suddenly the two kids are attacked by something not
quite from this era or dimenstion ... Detective Wells (Miles Rodziewicz)
is sent to Haslem to investigate the strange goings-on and deaths
happening there, of which the episode with Jess's bullies is only a
fragment, and he finds more and more evidence that simply does not match,
that suggests witchcraft - but when he questions the townsfolks about the
village's past steeped in black magic and witchhunts, he only receives
doors slammed into his face. At the same time though, the townfolks turn
to the local priest (Peter Noakes) to perform an exorcism - and things
only go downhills from there ... Layla Randle-Conde (under heavy makeup)
plays a witch killed in a flashback sequence, George Newton her chief
witchhunter. Without coming across in the least as retro or
something, this is a pleasently retro horror thriller that isn't so much
concerned with explaining its story away or relies all that much on
special effects, but rather tells its supernatural mystery in a properly
mysterious way, always putting atmosphere over spectacle, and moving at a
relaxed enough space to let things develop without ever getting boring.
And a fine ensemble cast certainly helps this movie as well. Reportedly,
this movie was made on a very low budget ... but it doesn't show in
the least. Great genre entertainment, recommended!
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