THE CANDY WITCH ** UK 2020 Dir: Rebecca Mathews. 94 mins
“Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker”. I certainly wish I had some alcohol while watching Proportion Productions latest offering The Candy Witch, a film filled to the brim with genre clichés but done with real love for the genre.
The story centres on troubled ghost hunter Reece (John Callaway) whose own troubled nature seems to be his driving force behind his gift for connecting with the dead. Along with his girlfriend Kat (Abi Casson Thompson) they take a case that leads them to their most troubling case yet. The troubled O’Neil family with their dark
secrets are being terrorised by what they call The Candy Witch.
Proportion Productions love for the horror genre is evident in the spirited effort on offer here but the blending of so many elements has rendered The Candy Witch a confused attempt at folklore horror. The central performances struggle to deal with a confused script that relays on the over use of expositional dialogue and very under-developed characters. Rebecca Mathews vision for the folklore elements seem hampered by not fully deciding if the film sits within the folklore or the campy horror genre. If there is one thing I hate about horror is the need to have characters whose only purpose is to die in a “creative” way, I mean death by candy floss, come on…
The Candy Witch’s saving grace is the cinematography which is superbly shot by Ben Collin with its rich almost noir use of shadows to sweeping camera movements, the look of the film lifts The Candy Witch from being just another low budget affair into visually engaging. I just wish the rest of the film had the same quality.
While I don’t feel The Candy Witch will create a new horror icon or will be remembered, I do feel the film had its fair share of entertaining moments and I look forward to seeing some progression from Proportion Productions future releases.
Review by Kemal Yildirim