House of the Witch (2017)

**_This is one wicked frickin' witch (with a mind-blowingly artistic close)_**

College teens in a Kentucky town set out to play a Halloween prank at the local "haunted" dilapidated mansion, but things go awry when the youths find themselves trapped in a life-or-death situation.

Despite the TV-budget and no-name cast, "House of the Witch, aka "The Wiccan" (2017) is a competent, austere haunted house flick with, believe it or not, moments of nigh greatness. The basic plot has been around forever, as illustrated in those cheap 50's horror comics.

Unlike the lowkey (and overrated) "The Blair Witch Project" (1999), the ghostly witch is shown on several occasions and she's quite formidable (although the smoke effects are sometimes dubious; still, they're effective). Her seemingly malevolent motivations aren't revealed until the climax.

The film scores well on the female front, beginning with cat-eared Grace Balbo in the prologue, followed by Emily Bader as the main protagonist. Blonde Michelle Randolph and Asian Arden Belle are also on hand.

I would have given this a solid grade even though it's "just another haunted house flick," but the superb climax compels me to up my grade. The final 10 minutes show artistic ingenuity with the hauntingly beautiful cinematography and the story revelations, along with the affecting score (reminiscent of Unkle's poignant "When things explode" with Ian Astbury). It's comparable to the moving close of 2009's underrated "Wind Chill," although they're decidedly different in theme.

Forget haunted house junk like 2007's "Return to House on Haunted Hill," "House of the Witch" is the real deal in ghostly mansion films. It shows how a quality little horror flick can be made on a low-budget.

The movie runs about 1h 29m and was shot in Lexington, Kentucky, mostly at Meadowcrest Mansion.

GRADE: B+/A-