"Pyewacket" is a relatively new Canadian film from 2017 written and directed by prolific actor Adam MacDonald and here we have his second full feature film. It's not a long movie by any means, barely makes it past the 80-minute mark not counting the pretty long closing credits section at the end. The cast does not include any known actors, at leastg to me I must admit, but that's not a problem at all, never really an issue for the horror genre either and pretty common there. It is the story of a teenage girl who took a turn for the dark side after the death of her father, not in the sense that she turned evil, but that she developed an interest in the occult. And tensions have been rough between her and her mother too in recent weeks, especially when she decides to take the daughter to a new home meaning she, to some extent, has to leave her friends behind. Still there are moments when she seems like a caring mother while in other moments she is a true beast. But she is not possessed or anything. The latter moments also include the one where she makes a truly cruel comment about the girl's father, which eventually results in our "heroine" performing a wicked spell that brings up a witch creature keen on killing the girl's mother. Maybe the extremes of the mother in terms of her behavior are a bit too much to be honest, but I believe Laurie Holden does a really good job here and easily gives the best performance from the cast. Very much a scene stealer. The scenes with the girl's friend, boyfriend and the other guy didn't do too much for me. When we see them all, it's tolerable, but the one with the best friend for example is just so-so, even if MacDonald makes decent use of the known horror film formulas that always work well like stoned teenagers acting as if something horrible happened, but in fact just playing pranks what we can never be sure of. The scene close to the ending with the witch having taken over the mother's body was really good and actually, they should have created a decent ending out of this one, maybe with the daughter giving the witch the knife and the witch killing her too. Or with the spell being performed back in the other direction setting things straight again in the sense of a happy ending could have been fine too. However, the path tehy took eventually with the big fire and the interrogation scene did very little for me unfortunately I must say and left another negative note on the already not too convincing horror element for me here. I don't need constant blood, death and violence, but I need more than what we got here. Like I wrote in the title, the non-supernatural scenes feel almost better than the core of the film, so yes it's not a film I'd recommend particularly to horror movie enthusiasts, let alone call it a must-see, but it is a pretty good watch for everybody who can stomach the more serious moments. The lead actress does what she needed to do too without ever really shining. I'd somehow even say after watching this one that I'd be curious to check out a non-horrror movie by MacDonald in the future. We'll see if it happens. Until then, go and watch Pyewacket. It's worth 90 minutes of your time.

With its silly-sounding title* and ambiguous storyline, Pyewacket seems to be following in the footsteps of The Babadook (2014), a film that left the viewer unsure as to whether its horrors were real or a figment of the imagination.Pyewacket's protagonist is pretty teen Leah (Nicole Muñoz), who has developed an interest in the occult following the death of her father. When her mother (Laurie Holden) announces that they are moving to a new home, hours away from her friends and school, Leah is understandably upset.Shortly after moving home, Leah has a bitter argument with her mother and, in a rage, conducts a ritual to summon a supernatural creature to kill the poor woman. In the following days, Leah regrets her actions, but is it too late to stop the monster she has unleashed?Delivering no concrete evidence to support the idea that Pyewacket is anything but imaginary, a product of Leah's increasingly fragile mind, the film is more of a psychological drama than a horror, extremely slow-burn and devoid of scares or tension. Ultimately, the whole thing amounts to a drawn-out build-up topped off with a short, sharp, shocking payoff that is nasty, but not really worth the wait.*After doing a bit of research, I found that Pyewacket was actually one of the familiar spirits of a witch detected by Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General, in 1644. It's still a silly name...

Yes, this is a teen angst story. Yes, the teens are of the troubled Goth variety so unappealingly stereotyped in so many films. But don't despair! Director and writer Adam MacDonald portrays them in a very sympathetic manner (the obligatory expletives are a little forced, however) and they emerge not only as strong characters, but their group is a vital one considering the inconsistency that exists at home.Leah (Nicole Muñoz) is missing her dead father, and her mother's up-and-down alcohol-induced mood-swings are making her unhappy. A keen reader of occult books, she rashly performs a Black Magic ritual to be rid of her mother - and then regrets it. By then, of course, it's too late.This is a pleasingly altered take on the familiar 'summoning a demon' story, and the modest budget is used to good effect, with bumps and jolting camera angles providing more naturalistic chills than CGI (which is used, but very sparingly) or wildly choreographed jump-scares. The new house Leah and her mother (Laurie Holden) move into is tailor-made for a haunting and is surrounded by acres of terrific Blair Witchy woodland. The acting is very good from all concerned, especially the two major females, and it becomes a blur as to just who is possessed and who is the victim.It's a low-key slow-burner with a familiar narrative, but with enough enjoyable details to satisfy.

Good performances by the lead actress and also her mum (who was in the Americans). But this movie is very, very slow. There quite frankly isnt enough to keep you engaged from the start until the moment that you finally see something scary in the last 15 or so minutes of the film. Its OK, but only barely. The lead actress is very cute though and I reckon she has potential in future films - she has a bit of depth and was quite good and convincing.