Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Released Year: 2013

Directed by Tommy Wirkola

Casted by:

 Jeremy Renner as Hansel

Gemma Arterton as Gretel

Famke Janssen as Muriel

Pihla Viitala as Mina

Thomas Mann as Benjamin "Ben" Walser

 Story:

Abandoned by their father deep in a forest, young Hansel and Gretel enter a gingerbread house and are captured by an evil, cannibalistic witch. The witch forces Hansel to continuously eat candy to fatten him up while enslaving Gretel and ordering her to prepare the oven, but the siblings outsmart her and she is roasted alive. In the fifteen years that follow, Hansel and Gretel become professional witch hunters, famed for seeking out and destroying hundreds of witches. The pair find that they are somehow immune to spells and curses, but the incident in the gingerbread house has left Hansel diabetic. He needs a shot of insulin every few hours or he will get sick and die.

Hansel and Gretel arrive in the town of Augsburg and immediately prevent Sheriff Berringer from executing a young accused witch named Mina, who Hansel decides is innocent. Mayor Englemann tells the crowd that he has hired the siblings to rescue several children who were presumably abducted by local witches. Berringer hires other hunters for the same mission in the hopes of disgracing the mayor and cementing his power. All but one of the sheriff's party are killed that night by the powerful grand witch Muriel, who sends one man back to the town tavern as a warning to the locals. Hansel and Gretel, along with the mayor's deputy Jackson, capture one of Muriel's witches and interrogate her. They discover that Muriel is preparing for the coming Blood Moon, where she plan to sacrifice twelve children in order to grant the witches an immunity to their weakness, fire. Muriel, accompanied by her witches and a troll servant named Edward, attack the town and abduct the final child. Muriel kills Jackson and launches Gretel out a window, rendering her unconscious. Gretel is rescued by Ben, a local teenager who is a fan of theirs and plans to be a witch hunter himself. Hansel grabs onto one witch's broomstick, but falls and is lost in the forest.

The next morning, Hansel is found stuck up a tree by Mina. She takes him to a nearby spring where she heals his wounds and makes love to him. Gretel searches for Hansel in the forest but is attacked by Sheriff Berringer and his posse. The men capture and beat Gretel before being stopped by Edward, who kills the sheriff and his men. Edward tends Gretel's wounds and tells her that he helped her because trolls serve witches. Hansel and Gretel reunite at an abandoned cabin, which they discover is both a witch's lair and their childhood home. Muriel appears in front of them, telling them the truth of their past. She reveals that Hansel and Gretel's mother was a grand white witch named Adrianna who married a farmer, and this is the reason Hansel and Gretel are immune to black magic. On the night of the last Blood Moon, Muriel planned to use the heart of a white witch to complete her potion. She found Adrianna too powerful and decided to use Gretel's heart instead. To get rid of Adrianna, Muriel revealed to the townspeople that Adrianna was a witch. The townspeople burned her alive and hanged Hansel and Gretel's father. Following this revelation, the siblings battle Muriel before she stabs Hansel and abducts Gretel for the ritual.

Hansel wakes up with Mina, who reveals herself to be a white witch. She heals his wounds again and uses the Abramelin grimoire that was found in the house to bless Hansel's arsenal of weapons. Hansel, Mina, and Ben head out to disrupt the Witches' Sabbath at a neaby mountain. Using the blessed guns, Hansel and Mina attack a large gathering of dark witches who came there from all over the world, massacring them and freeing the children. In the midst of the slaughter, Edward defies Muriel's orders and releases Gretel before Muriel throws him off the cliff. Some witches attempt to flee the carnage but are killed by traps, and Muriel too tries to escape on a broomstick but is downed by Ben. Hansel pursues her immediately while Gretel stops to revive Edward. Hansel and Mina follow Muriel's trail and battle her at the original gingerbread house. Muriel injures Ben and kills Mina before Gretel arrives. The siblings and Muriel then engage in a vicious fight that ends with Muriel being decapitated by Gretel, and her head being thrown into the oven, and Gretel picking up Muriel's magic wand, which responds to her touch. Back in Augsburg, they burn a heap of witches on a pyre and collect their reward.

Hansel and Gretel head out on their next hunt, now accompanied by Ben and Edward. Before the credits roll, they are all seen at work tracking down and slaying witches in a desert.

 L² Scored: 5/10

L² Comment:

Back in the old days of western & european countries, witches are known to be evil, very well being the presenter of the halloween night, am i right? So why don't i watch a witch movie during the chinese ghost month? lol

Back to the movie, this movie is make to be the sequel of the German's folklore fairy tale "Hansel & Gratel"... i kinda like this idea, but the storyline is a bit simple and not exciting enough... the most funny thing is to see Famke Janssen as the witch haha~ 

Ella Enchanted

 Released Year: 2004

Directed by Tommy O'Haver

Casted by:

Anne Hathaway as Ella of Frell

Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont (Char)

Cary Elwes as Sir Edgar

Steve Coogan as Heston

 Story: 

In the kingdom of Frell, baby Ella is given the "gift of obedience" by a misguided and obnoxious fairy called Lucinda. This is more of a curse, making Ella do anything she is told to, but only Lucinda can reverse it. Ella's mother tells Ella keep the curse secret; after she dies, only the household fairy, Mandy, knows about it.

Several years later, Ella's father remarries to a wealthy socialite, Dame Olga, who dislikes Ella. Her spoiled daughters Hattie and Olive notice Ella's obedience and begin making her life miserable. Ella stumbles upon Prince Charmont, the handsome heir who will soon take the throne, as he's being pursued by his fan club of besotted young women. He invites Ella to the Coronation Ball, but Olga intercepts the invitation. Hattie and Olive, fan club members themselves, are overcome with jealousy. They force Ella to insult and cut ties with her best friend Areida.

Ella cannot bear her situation a moment longer, and resolves to find Lucinda. Mandy helps by lending Ella her boyfriend Benny, who she accidentally transformed into a talking magical book that can show people in their current surroundings. During her journey, Ella encounters an elf named Slannen, who wants to be a lawyer instead of an entertainer as the laws now require. They are both captured by a group of ogres, who want to eat them. Prince Charmont rescues them and accompanies them to a wedding in the land of giants, where Ella hopes to find Lucinda. En route, Ella opens Char's eyes to the cruelty of the laws oppressing elves and giants established by the acting ruler, Char's uncle Sir Edgar. Char invites Ella to visit the palace's Hall of Records and find Lucinda faster. But Edgar's talking snake, Heston, is spying on them.

At the palace, Heston tells Edgar about Ella's obedience, which Hattie confirms when Edgar offers her Char's hand in marriage. Knowing that Char intends to marry Ella, Edgar orders her to kill him when he proposes, and tell no one. Edgar also reveals that he murdered Char's father. To save Char, Ella asks Slannen to tie her to a tree and to get the giants to help. Ella writes Char a letter, saying she is leaving permanently and cannot explain why, which breaks his heart. Lucinda then appears before Ella, who asks her to undo the "gift" of obedience. Lucinda, offended, tells Ella to remove it herself. She unties Ella, gives her a fancy dress, and tells her to attend the ball, where Char almost immediately takes her to the Hall of Mirrors and asks her to marry him.

Ella is about to stab him with the dagger Edgar provided, when she realizes Lucinda has provided the answer: looking into a mirror, she says, "You will no longer be obedient!" She drops the dagger and Char sees it. Edgar is spying on them, and before Ella can explain, he orders the guards to lock her up, to be executed tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Slannen, the giants, and the ogres all sneak into the castle to rescue Ella. They find out that Edgar is poisoning the crown Char will receive during the ceremony. Ella and her allies burst in just in time to stop him putting it on. Edgar and Heston call for the knights and Red Guards, and a battle ensues. Ella explains everything while fighting alongside Char. Mandy transforms Benny back into a human. When Edgar's forces lose, Heston tries to bite Char, but is stopped by Ella. Caught trying to kill the prince, Edgar admits to the crowd that he killed the King, but says only he deserves the crown. Then, carried away by his own rhetoric, he puts it dramatically on his own head—and promptly collapses from the poison.

Char and Ella kiss; her stepsisters arrive and order her to stop, but she is delighted to refuse. Char once again asks Ella to marry him, and she agrees: "Now that I'll do." The movie ends with their wedding and a musical number. During all this, it's shown that Slannen is in a relationship with a giant, Ella has rekindled her friendship with Areida, and that Edgar had survived. The Narrator announces two more words: The End.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Funny, romantic, nice to watch... this movie is based on the same name novel by Gail Carson Levine. It involve magics, fairies, witches, ogres, elves... so many of the fantasy creatures and yet the storyline is strong and presentable. Love Anne Hathaway, she looks so beautiful in this movie~

Rosemary's Baby

 Released Year: 1968

Directed by Roman Polanski

Casted by:

Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse

John Cassavetes as Guy Woodhouse

Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castevet

Sidney Blackmer as Roman Castevet / Steven Marcato

Maurice Evans as Hutch

 Story:

Rosemary Woodhouse, a bright but somewhat naive young housewife, and Guy, her husband and a struggling actor, are shown and move into the Bramford, an antiquated New York City apartment building, by the manager, Mr. Nicklas. They discover a dresser concealing a simple closet containing nothing except a vacuum and a few other items, something they deduce must have been a result of the senility of Mrs. Gardenia, the former tenant. Their neighbors, Minnie and Roman Castevet, are an elderly and slightly eccentric couple who tend to be meddlesome but appear to be harmless.

Rosemary meets a young woman, Terry Gionoffrio, who has been taken in and helped by the Castevets after living on the street. As Rosemary admires a pendant necklace the Castevets gave to Terry, she notices its strange smell. Returning home one night, Guy and Rosemary find that Terry has thrown herself to her death from the window of the Castevets' seventh-floor apartment.

Minnie invites the Woodhouses to dinner and they reluctantly accept. Guy forms a bond with the Castevets. Minnie gives Terry's pendant to Rosemary, telling her it is a good luck charm and the odd smell is from a plant called "tannis root". Later, Guy lands a role in a play when the actor who was originally cast suddenly and inexplicably goes blind. Guy suggests that he and Rosemary have the child they had planned.

On the night they plan to conceive, Minnie brings them individual cups of chocolate mousse. Rosemary finds hers has a chalky undertaste and surreptitiously throws it away after a few mouthfuls. Rosemary passes out and experiences what she perceives to be a strange dream in which she is raped by a demonic presence in front of Guy, the Castevets, and other Bramford tenants. When she wakes, she finds scratches on her body. Guy tells her that he had sex with her while she was unconscious because he did not want to pass up the moment for her to conceive.

Rosemary learns that she is pregnant and is due on June 28, 1966. She plans to receive obstetric care from Dr. Hill, who is recommended to her by her friend Elise. However, the Castevets insist she see their good friend, Dr. Abraham Sapirstein, who says that Minnie will make Rosemary a daily drink which is healthier than the usual vitamin pills.

For the first three months of her pregnancy, Rosemary suffers severe abdominal pains, loses weight, becomes unusually pale, and craves raw meat and chicken liver. Dr. Sapirstein insists the pain will subside soon, and assures her she has nothing to worry about. When her old friend Hutch sees Rosemary's gaunt appearance and hears that she is being fed the mysterious tannis root, he is disturbed enough to do some research. Before he can tell Rosemary his findings, he mysteriously falls into a coma. When Rosemary can't bear her abdominal pains another minute, they suddenly disappear.

Three months later, Hutch dies. He leaves Rosemary a book about witchcraft and it is delivered to her at his funeral along with the cryptic message: "The name is an anagram". Rosemary deduces that Roman Castevet is really Steven Marcato, the son of a former resident of the Bramford who was accused of being a Satanist. Rosemary suspects her neighbors and Dr. Sapirstein are part of a cult with sinister designs for her baby, and that Guy is cooperating with them in exchange for help in advancing his career.

Rosemary becomes increasingly disturbed and shares her fears and suspicions with Dr. Hill, who, assuming she is delusional, calls Dr. Sapirstein and Guy. They tell her that if she co-operates, neither she nor the baby will be harmed. The two men bring Rosemary home, where she briefly escapes them. Despite Rosemary locking them out, they enter the bedroom. Rosemary goes into labor and is sedated by Dr. Sapirstein. When she wakes, she is told the baby died.

In the hall closet, Rosemary discovers a secret door leading into the Castevet apartment and hears a baby's cries revealing that her child is alive. She then finds a congregation made up of the building's tenants, as well as Dr. Sapirstein, gathered around her newborn son. After seeing the disturbing appearance of her baby's eyes, Rosemary is told that Guy is not the baby's father and that the baby, named Adrian, is actually the spawn of Satan. This horrifies Rosemary, who spits in Guy's face. Roman urges Rosemary to become a mother to her son and assures her that she does not have to join the cult if she doesn't want to. She adjusts her son's blankets and gently rocks his cradle with a small smile on her face.

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

Multiple awards nomination and winners, this film is so horrible that i can still feel my fear everytime watching it. Imagine the one you love betray you and sell you to the devil by using all these witch craft, who else can u trust? I feel pity for Rosemary's character, and in the end will she be crazy when the baby grow bigger? Of coz Mia Farrow is very vidal sasson during that period and it has always beem tyra banks' fav hairstyle~ 

Dark Shadows

 Released Year: 2012

Directed by Tim Burton

 

Casted by:

Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins

Eva Green as Angelique Bouchard

Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard

Bella Heathcote as Victoria Winters

Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Julia Hoffman

 Story:

In 1760, the Collins family migrates to America from Liverpool and sets up a fishing port in Maine, naming it Collinsport. Sixteen years later in 1776 the son, Barnabas (Johnny Depp), has an affair with a maid, Angelique Bouchard, who is a witch infatuated with him since childhood. When he tells her he doesn't love or want her, Angelique kills his parents. Barnabas then falls in love with Josette du Pres. In a fit of jealousy, Angelique bewitches Josette into leaping from a cliff to her death. Barnabas leaps after her in grief, but he survives because Angelique turns him into an immortal vampire. She rouses a mob to capture and bury Barnabas alive in a chained coffin in the woods and curses his family.

One hundred ninety-six years later, in the year 1972, construction workers accidentally free Barnabas from his coffin, who reluctantly slakes his two-century thirst by feeding on and killing his rescuers. He makes his way back to his manor to find it inhabited by his dysfunctional descendants and their servants—the family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard; her brother Roger; her 15-year-old daughter Carolyn; Roger's 10-year-old son David; Dr. Julia Hoffman, David's psychiatrist; Willie Loomis, the manor's caretaker; and Victoria Winters, David's newly hired governess and Josette's reincarnation. Upon convincing Elizabeth of his identity by revealing a secret treasure room behind the fireplace, Barnabas is allowed to stay under the condition that he never reveal either the room or the fact that he is a vampire to the rest of the family. At breakfast, Elizabeth makes him out to be "Barnabas Collins III", a distant relative from England who has come to restore the family's business and reputation in town. Barnabas becomes very deeply attracted to Victoria, whom he briefly mistakes for his lost Josette, and immediately begins to pursue her romantically.

As Barnabas helps revitalize the Collins' fishery and manor, he is approached by Angelique, who has used her powers to establish a successful rival fishery, called Angel Bay, and live through the decades by posing as her own descendants. She tries to win him back, later convincing him to make wild, passionate love with her, but he still rejects her, as he loves Victoria. He continues to restore his family's name by inviting the entire town to a party at the manor featuring Alice Cooper (whom Barnabas mistakes for a female due to Cooper's name), where Victoria reveals to Barnabas that her parents committed her to an insane asylum, (under her real name "Maggie Evans"), as a child because she could see and talk to an invisible friend, (Josette's ghost). They kiss and confess their feelings to each other, unknowingly enraging Angelique who has witnessed the scene.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hoffman has discovered Barnabas' true nature after hypnotizing him. She convinces him to try an experimental procedure to become a regular human again via blood transfusions using her own blood, but her real intent is to use his blood to become a vampire to avoid aging. Upon discovering this betrayal, Barnabas drains her to death and dumps her in the ocean. Barnabas catches Roger trying to find the secret room and exposes Roger's lack of interest in his son. Barnabas makes him choose between being a good father to David, or leaving the family with sufficient funding to satisfy his greed. Roger chooses to leave, deeply wounding his son's feelings. Immediately afterwards, Barnabas rescues David from a falling disco ball and stumbles into a beam of sunlight, burning his skin and exposing his secret to the horrified children and Victoria.

Later that night, Angelique calls Barnabas into her office, coaxes him into confessing Dr. Hoffman's murder, and traps him in another coffin that she leaves in his family's crypt until she decides to let him out again. She then burns down the Collins' canning factory and plays a recording of the murder confession to the police and gathered townsfolk, once more turning them against the family. Angie leads the mob to Collinwood to arrest the family, but Barnabas is rescued from the coffin by David and shows up at the manor, attacking her in front of the mob, thereby exposing both his and her true natures. As the townspeople disperse, Angelique sets fire to the manor and admits her role in the family's curse, including turning Carolyn into a werewolf and killing David's mother at sea. Barnabas and the Collins family fight Angelique until David summons his mother's vengeful ghost. The ghost gives a single scream which knocks Angelique into a chandelier.

Before she dies she pulls out her heart and offers it to Barnabas; he refuses the heart, trying to make her admit she didn't really love him, she just wanted to possess him, and it shatters as Angelique dies. Barnabas then discovers that Angelique has bewitched Victoria into jumping off of Widow's Hill, the same cliff Josette did. Barnabas arrives moments before Victoria is about to jump and breaks her hypnosis, but she reveals she wanted to fall. She pleads with him to make her a vampire so that they can remain together forever, but he refuses. She then casts herself off, forcing him to follow and bite her to save her life, and Victoria wakes up as a vampire. As the two kiss on the rocks in the waves, the film ends with an underwater scene showing a school of fish swimming away from Hoffman, who suddenly revives due to managing to make it far enough into the transfusions.

 L² Scored: 6.5/10

 

L² Comment:

As usual, Tim Burton's movie is funny but this movie has a lot of negative feedback and it dowsn't seems to work this time. For me the storyline is ok, but in the end the add on of the warewolf seems to spoil the whole movie... anyway, i still love Depp :)

Beastly

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Daniel Barnz

 

Casted by:

Alex Pettyfer as Kyle Kingson/Hunter
 Vanessa Hudgens as Linda "Lindy" Taylor
 Mary-Kate Olsen as Kendra Hilferty
 Neil Patrick Harris as Will Fratalli
 Lisa Gay Hamilton as Zola

 Story:

 Kyle Kingston, an arrogant and vain son of wealthy news anchor Rob Kingson, bullies Kendra Hilferty who magically transforms handsome Kyle into a bald, tattooed, and scarred shell. If Kyle does not find someone who loves him by the next spring he will remain in this ugly state forever. Kyle is taken to live in a private house with their maid Zola and a blind tutor Will. Both are a comfort to Kyle when his father begins to neglect him.

As spring draws closer, Kyle finds himself infatuated with Lindy Taylor, a girl from whom he had kept his distance at his former school. He sees her father, a drug addict, engaged in an altercation with two drug dealers and shoots one dead while the other vows to kill Lindy. Kyle persuades Lindy’s father to allow her to move in with him. Lindy is furious about hiding and doesn't speak to Kyle, but eventually, Kyle reveals himself and they begin to warm up to each other. Kyle writes a letter professing his love for Lindy but does not give it to her for fear of rejection. He visits Kendra to plead for more time; she refuses, but agrees to restore Will's vision and grant green cards to Zola's three children in Jamaica if he gets Lindy to fall in love with him.

The criminal who threatened Lindy’s life lands in jail. Lindy’s father overdoses and is in the hospital. Kyle permits Lindy to leave and see her father and drives her to the station. He gives her the letter but regrets doing so as she tells him he’s a good friend. Lindy calls him after reading the letter, but being heartbroken Kyle does not answer the phone. Persuaded by Will and Zola, Kyle goes to meet Lindy one last time before she leaves on a school trip to Machu Picchu. Lindy professes her love for Kyle "Hunter," says the words "I Love You" to break Kyle's "Hunter" curse, and Kyle tells her to go. Kyle’s normal self is restored and Lindy runs out looking for "Hunter" Kyle but Lindy does not recognize him until she calls his phone and Kyle's phone starts ringing. When Lindy realizes that Hunter is in fact Kyle the two share a passionate kiss in the middle of the street.

Will wakes up one morning and can see again and Zola finds three green cards for her children in the mail from the government. Kendra approaches Rob Kingson's office as a new intern, implying that Kendra will likely do the same thing to Rob as she did to Kyle. Then, in the credits, we see them on holiday together in different countries.

 L² Scored: 7/10

 

L² Comment: 

Based on Alex Flinn's 2007 same name novel, a magical-disney-like romantic movie was filmed. The storyline is some sort like the Beauty & The Beast, which is something new but too bad the story was just normal~ not good enough to give us a WOW!

Season Of The Witch

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Dominic Sena

Casted by:
Nicolas Cage as Behmen
Ron Perlman as Felson
Claire Foy as Anna
Stephen Campbell Moore as Debelzaq
Robert Sheehan as Kay
Ulrich Thomsen as Eckhardt
Stephen Graham as Hagamar
Story:

Set in the 14th century, three women accused of witchcraft are hanged and then drowned by a priest. He performs rituals to prevent the witches from coming back from the dead, only for the third witch to gain a demonic appearance and hang the priest. Cutting to several years later during the Crusades, knights Behmen and Felson become disillusioned with the war upon seeing women and children being mercilessly slaughtered and return to England as deserters. They discover that the Black Plague has swept across the land and most people believe it to be from Hell. Upon entering a town, Behmen's sword shows his crest and they are identified as deserters and taken to Cardinal D'Ambroise who is infected with the plague.

The Cardinal asks the knights to escort an apparent witch to a monastery where the monks will decide whether or not she lives or dies, having been accused of causing the plague. The two knights agree, but under one condition, that she will be given a fair trial. The Cardinal agrees, and they set out accompanied by a priest Debelzaq, young man Kay, grieving knight Eckhardt whose family were killed by the plague, and swindler Hagamar who leads the way to the monastery. The witch, a young girl later identified as Anna, shows hatred towards Debelzaq and forms a bond with Behmen.

Shortly after setting off, the group camp for the night. Eckhardt volunteers to watch the witch for the 1st night after a while Debelzaq comes to relieve Eckhardt, but decides to stay and keep watch with him since he had trouble sleeping after the death of his family. Eckhardt talks about his daughter Mila who by resembled Anna. As Eckhardt leaves, Anna escapes after attacking Debelzaq from within her cage and flees to a nearby town. During the search for her, Eckhardt has visions of his dead daughter and is accidentally killed by Kay.

One man down, the group become less trusting of Anna including Behmen. The group manage to successfully cross a rickety rope bridge, Anna saving Kay from falling to his death by grabbing him with one hand. The group enter the dark forest called Wormwood, where Hagamar attempts to kill Anna so the group can go home, only to be stopped by the others. Anna appears to summon wolves, who chase the group and kill Hagamar cause he stood in her way. An enraged Behmen tries to kill Anna, but is stopped by Felson when the monastery is in sight.

Arriving at the monastery, the men find all of the monks have been killed by the plague but locate the Key of Solomon, an ancient book filled with holy rituals used to defeat evil. The men confront Anna, Debelzaq beginning to perform a ritual used on witches. However, Anna starts show her real form and reveals she has been deceiving them all along, melts her cage and reveals herself to be a male demon, using Anna as a vessel. The demon plots to destroy the last version of the book. That was why she killed Eckhardt and Hagmar because they stood in her way. The only reason she didn't resist when she heard she was coming to the monastery was to destroy the book and cover the world in darkness. The men prepare for battle, but find a room where dead monks are writing copies of the book. The demon appears, destroys the copies and possesses the monks' bodies to use as weapons.

During the fight, the demon kills Debelzaq by breaking his neck and then incinerates Felson. Behmen fights the demon and has Kay finish the ritual to destroy the demon, but is mortally wounded and dies shortly after, asking Kay to look after the freed Anna. After making graves for their fallen friends, Kay and Anna depart with the book in hand

L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Woah, though i'm not a fans of Nicolas Cage, but this is a really good movie :) Love the witches things. The whole movie has zero yawning moment, every moment is so exciting. Love the most on the part when the gang crossing an almost broken bridge, omg~ my heart simply beat so fast.

A good movie not to be miss :)