Our final Season of the Witch is the most recent (though I believe a documentary by this title also exists). Its budget dwarfs that of all previous Seasons combined.

Alas, money alone does not a good film make.

Title: Season of the Witch (2011)

Cast and Crew

Directed by Dominic Sena
Written by Bragi F. Schut

Nicolas Cage as Behmen
Ron Perlman as Felson
Claire Foy as Anna
Christopher Lee as Cardinal D’Ambroise
Stephen Campbell Moore as Debelzaq
Stephen Graham as Hagamar
Ulrich Thomsen as Eckhart
Robert Sheehan as Kay
Kevin Rees as Dying Monk
Andrew Hefler as Jail Bailiff
Róbert Bánlaki as Livery Boy
Barna Illyés as Cardinal’s Priest
Kevin Killebrew as Demonic Voice

Premise

In Hollywood’s version of Ye Middle Ages,¹ a pair of deserters from the crusades try to earn redemption by transporting an accused witch, a young woman being blamed for the Black Death, to a remote monastery to perform a ritual that might end the plague.

High Point

The film has some effective action sequences during the battles, though less, better scripted, would have been more effective. I also admired the haunted forest, which features harrowing visuals.

Low Point

See “Effects,” with reference to the film’s finale.

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6

Effects: 4/6 The film begins with high production values and solid effects. The low score it earned during post-production. Did they run out of budget? Did they field the final effects out to somebody’s kids? Did I miss a twist where our heroes wandered into a 90s videogame? The CGI used in the finale is awful.

Production: 5/6

Acting: 4/6 Performances vary in quality. Some are a bit cagey. Perlman and Foy do the best they can with the script.

Story: 3/6 We have a passable premise, but something went awry in the filming and editing. The results are chaotic and meandering. Much of the film slogs through extended prologues with attempted commentary on war and religious fanaticism, before we gather a gaming party and head out on a quest. By the time that happens, some viewers will have checked out.

Also: did APBs exist in the fourteenth century? Most remarkable that Cage and Perlman’s characters get recognized so easily while wandering through East Butthole in the Grand Duchy of Nowhere.

Emotional Response: 2/6

Overall: 3/6 The film needed two things. Firstly, the script required editing with a Lochaber axe. Secondly, it needed to find its tone. With better-developed characters and focus it might have worked as a serious horror-fantasy. With more humour and a deliberate leaning into its D&D tropes, it might have made a decent action-comedy.

What we get is an occasionally entertaining mess.

In total, Season of the Witch (2011) receives 23/42

The Schedule

October 5/6: Abigail (2024) and Abigail (2023): JD
October 12/13: Season of the Witch (1972) and Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) and Season of the Witch (2009) and Season of the Witch (2011) : JD
October 19/20: Hocus Pocus (1993) and Hocus Pocus (2022): ‘Lex
October 26/27: The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) and Humanist Vampire Seeks Suicidal Person (2023): JD
October 31: The Love Witch (2016): ‘Lex and Sleepaway Camp (1983): JD and Dark Gathering (2023): Alexander Case

Notes

1. I don’t know where I’d begin and I certainly don’t expect accurate history from Hollywood action movies, so I will pick at a favorite nit. Those creepy Plague Doctor outfits did not exist in the middle ages. They appeared during the plague outbreaks of the 1600s and no evidence exists that they were widely-used then. You are more likely to have seen one as a Halloween costumes in recent years than in the 1600s.

Next week, ‘Lex takes a look at a pair of Hocus Poci.