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Coven of Evil
UK 2020
produced by Matthew J. Lawrence, Warren Croyle (executive) for Macabre Pictures
directed by Matthew J. Lawrence
starring John Thacker, Laura Peterson, Samantha Moorhouse, Craig R Mellor, Tracy Gabbitas, Micky Satiar, Jacob Kain Prescott, Laura Ellen Wilson, Brian Woodward, Jayne Buchanan, Ian Archdeacon, Alannah Marie, Vicki Glover, Graham Parrington, Steve Kilpatrick, Lee Glynn, Dominic Mcavish
written by Matthew J. Lawrence, music by Steve Kilpatrick
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Joe (Matthew J. Lawrence), a young "investigative" journalist
still living with his parents (Brian Woodward, Jayne Buchanan) one day
receives a visit from Evie (Samantha Moorhouse), high priestess of a
witches coven, after he tried to expose covens in general as little more
than sex cults. Evie though is not angry, but she invites Joe to the
island of her coven to experience a ritual first hand. Having nothing
better to do, Joe agrees to just that. On the island, he meets the other
members of the coven, Zander (Craig R. Mellor), Evie's husband and high
priest of the coven, who has also a short temper and a sadistic trait,
their healer Kissi (Tracy Gabbitas), and other coven members Talia (Laura
Ellen Wilson), Raymond (Micky Satiar) and wes (Jacob Kain Prescott) - and
he also meets another woman living in the house the others just ignore,
Alice (Laura Peterson). The ritual is essentially a wild dance party which
culminates in Joe having sex with Talia, in front of everyone else - and
only the next day he learns he was drugged, and so was Talia. Upon
learning that, Joe insists on leaving immediately, when he sees Zander
mistreating Alice. This strikes a chord inside him, and he decides on
staying and trying to find out what's the story of Alice and protect her
in the process - even if he has no clear plan how as he's not exactly a
match for Zander. However, he and Alice manage to meet in secret, and he
finds out she's Evie's sister who hasn't been accepted into the coven, and
is thus seemingly ignored by the other coven members - but at the same
time they seem to closely guard her, especially Zander who physically
punishes her for every wrongdoing. Of course, Joe and Alice fall in love
before too long - but what neither of them know is that that's all part of
Evie's plan, as at the solar eclipse that's only days away they want to
sacrifice both Alice and the unborn child Joe has only just fathered in a
blood ritual to open the gate to hell ... Now if you're looking
for pure spectacle and/or sexy witches baring it all, this film is
probably not for you, as it's a rather slowburn piece of Wiccan horror
that puts an emphasis on mystery, characters and atmosphere - and as that
it works very well as it really gives the viewer only as much information
as one absolutely needs and lets one piece the puzzle together oneself
while giving the characters the necessary air to breathe. And even if the
reveal in the third act might not come totally unexpected, the film had an
interesting story to tell so far and doesn't solely depend on its finale
but manages to be a cool watch throughout.
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