Katie (Braman Arianna Warren) is a typical teenager. She is in a phase of rebellion from her mother (Heather Davis), by wearing black, cutting class, and hanging out with an older friend named Wicker (Breven Angelica Warren.) Katie’s mother tries to forbid her from seeing Wicker, who is involved with magic and the dark arts, but Katie feels as though Wicker is the only one she can trust and is determined to disobey her mother’s orders.
But is Wicker really such a trusted companion, or something far more sinister?
Content
As a (basically) good Catholic, I don’t really know a lot about witchcraft. I’ve met one witch in my day (or warlock, I suppose, as he was a, well, he,) and I have to say that the mysterious and rather creepy character of Wicker doesn’t seem to match up. This particular warlock did not dress in black, nor did he act exceedingly creepy and/or mysterious. He was extremely laid back, had a genuine smile, and was in reality a very nice person. He talked a little bit about his religion and I talked about mine, but mostly we both avoided that topic.
Sure, I’ve only known one witchcraft aficionado, but I have known quite a large number of Goths – myself being one – and next to none were self-proclaimed witches. There is a bit of a connection between the dark appeal of Goth and the appeal of witchcraft, and I don’t doubt that the two do overlap. However, it seemed like the character of Wicker was created by calling on all witchcraft and Goth sterotypes, which could prove to be a bit offensive to some viewers who are followers of one, but not the other. Dressing a character in black and pouring on the creepy act may freak out an audience, but the sure-fire way to send shivers up their spine is to go for the unexpected twist – everyone watching this film has already suspected that Wicker is up to no good, but what would really shock them is if Wicker turned out to be just an innocent eccentric, and Katie’s innocuous-looking mother was, in fact, a very dangerous witch, who may have even had something to do with the disappearance of Katie’s father.
I really do think that the things that scare us the most are those which should be innocuous. Think of more modern horror films like “One Missed Call,” “P2,” or “The Good Son,” where the antagonist (a missed phone call, a parking garage, or a child) is something that we would normally assume to be either good or at least non-harmful, which makes it even more terrifying when they turn on the protagonist.
Warning – spoilers ahead!
This movie contains multiple scenes of unspecified “creepiness,” but none of them seem to lead anywhere, except for the occasional flashes that imply a car will hit either Melissa or Katie. From what I could gather, Katie continues to have these bizarre visions – some of which are nonsensical, some of which are almost like premonitions. The nonsensical bits do little but creep out the audience without really advancing the plot (which I will admit isn’t all bad), but when the premonitions begin to come true for Katie, I began to wonder why all she did was sit on the couch and watch TV. The creepy scenes begin to increase as the film goes on, and eventually I began to wonder what was reality and what was a dream. There was a lack of clear structure, as well as differentiation between reality and non (which also isn’t totally a bad thing, as it’s sometimes fun to shock an audience), but there were other sequences with vastly different effects, which also made it more confusing for an audience.
