May 1693 saw the last of the witch trials, but this did not stop the practice of witchcraft. For decades, people have been practicing witchcraft, and for centuries, humans have been fascinated with the idea of one being able to do anything with a wiggle of a nose. Years of witches being portrayed in films such as 1996’s The Craft, 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, and, of course, 2015’s The Witch sparked a grandiose idea in the movie industry that witches are evil and make great Horror films. Released On Digital and On Demand through Uncork’d Entertainment in November 2024, The North Witch sticks to this idea and might be the spark that keeps the world ignited on witches.
Directed by Bruce Wemple (The Retreat 2020, First Contac 2023), The North Witch stars Anna Shields (Devil’s Triangle 2021, First Contact 2023) and Kaitlyn Lunardi (The Hangman 2024, The Christmas Brew 2024) with guest star Jessy Holtermann (The Thursday Night Club 2022, The Hangman 2024). This story follows a group of five girls who venture out into the woods in the Canadian Barren Lands to locate a cabin that mysteriously vanished sixty years ago. It is a cabin that one man mysteriously vanished while searching for said cabin only months ago.
Overall, the film works well thanks to the extraordinary vision of Wemple and Anna Shields, who not only starred in it but also wrote the disturbing and grotesque screenplay. In fact, it will leave you with nightmares in the waking world and chills running through your psyche. A Horror enthusiast might say that a good jump scare is a great trick of the mind in a Horror film. However, what if the real scare was not just a jump scare but an entire trick of the mind that spirals into something way worse? That is where The North Witch excels.
It all begins with a girl, Maddison or Maddy (Shields), being kicked out of the house by her roommates. In the last-ditch effort to not go home, she calls up an old friend, Gemma (Holtermann), to see if she could crash at her place for a while as she tries to get back on her feet. Gemma has other plans with her friends for the weekend, though, and Maddy finds herself setting out on a hiking/camping trip with Gemma and her friends. Though Gemma did warn Maddy that it was going to be a “pretty rough one,” nothing could prepare Maddy for what was going to happen. As the girls stopped to camp for the night, a force stronger than anything in the world stirred up and blew them across the forest floor.
This is what brings Maddy to a cabin… the one that the girls had been looking for the entire time. Once inside the cabin, though, all hell breaks loose as Maddy discovers strange and unusual things happening. The arrival of Talia (Lunardi) increases the intensity and stirs up even more trouble for Maddy. Without giving away too much, all in all, one’s own mind can be a world of nightmares…
In the body of The North Witch’s work, both Anna Shields and Kaitlyn Lunardi give phenomenal performances. Their onscreen chemistry is striking, and Talia and Maddy’s emotional anticipation is thrilling. Together, they make The North Witch that much better, and even the supporting roles that are loosely placed in the film help build up their characters.
Witches, conspiracy theories, friendship, and mind screws that will send chills down the spine keep the audience on edge… The North Witch will give you the shock of a lifetime. That is why Cryptic Rock gives this film 5 out of 5 stars.
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