Scanialara
You won't be disappointed!
Lucybespro
It is a performances centric movie
Dorathen
Better Late Then Never
Marva-nova
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
grantss
Starts as a funny crime-caper, ends as a very silly horror movie.This movie had potential. It started very well, with a good robbery and police chase and some very funny dialogue. However, the moment it went from Tarantinoesque crime drama to a supernatural horror movie, it lost all focus and became very stupid. Just scene after mindless scene of hokey, unoriginal horror crap. Some of the clever dialogue remains, but that's about all that's positive about the last 70% or so of the movie.Sort of reminded me of From Dusk Till Dawn, which started well and then progressed/degenerated in a similar fashion.
Greg
A surprise winner at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival as a Midnight Madness selection, Witching and Bitching has been quietly playing the festival circuit before now landing on VOD with a high recommendation.Directed by Álex de la Iglesia (The Oxford Murders, The Last Circus), Witching and Bitching is a Spanish film that tells the story of a gang of jewellery thieves who end up in a town home to a coven of witches while fleeing a lucrative heist.The opening heist is very entertaining with the thieves dressed as street performers before the firepower is revealed and action ensues (seeing Spongebob Squarepants get riddled with bullets was a highlight). The smash-and-grab is aided by the gang leader's son who will accompany the fleeing criminals as they try to escape the country by forcing a cab driver to abet their plans.With the police and an ex-wife in quick pursuit, the gang lands in a town that could not be any worse than facing the police in a shoot-out. Three witches that reside in a lavish estate convince the men into their home and before you can say 'hocus pocus', they are tied up and tortured (some playfully, some violently) with the intention of being served as the main course for the countless witches that have been invited over for dinner.Equal parts of comedy and chaos ensues leading up to an unexpected and highly enjoyable climax that includes a giant naked witch that towers over her human counterparts who exponentially aides the body count.The sub-plots that help fuel the main story are every bit as interesting without impeding on the film's focus. There are the two cops that are following the ex-wife of one of the thieves, the innocent cab rider that ends up being tortured time and time again and there is even an interesting budding love story between the main character and a young witch who is torn between her feelings for the human and her commitment to the coven.The special effects department did a wonderful job on bringing everything to life and the script as penned by Jorge Guerricaechevarría and Álex de la Iglesia is incredibly enjoyable and maintains its consistency throughout the full 112-minute running time. Because the screen never gushes with blood many might not so easily classify Witching and Bitching as horror. But whether it is horror or just a really good thriller, either way – it is a very good film.www.killerreviews.com
abisio
Alex de la Iglesia is one of the most interesting Spanish directors. His movies always carry a mix of violence and comedy (and sometimes horror) . He is able to get good production values; but most of the times humor is basically a gross exaggeration of Spanish idiosyncrasy and history which sometimes limits the audience's understanding of what is going on. "Las Brujas de Zagarramurdi" aka "Witching and Bitching" starts with a not very well-orchestrated pawn shop robbery . The main characters Jose (Hugo Silva) and Tony steal a bag full of golden rings with the help of Jose's 10 years old son. They escape kidnapping a taxi drivers and his passenger and try to cross to France. They are immediately identified and pursued by Jose's ex-wife and two dumb policemen. When they reach Zagarramurdi they had to confront a huge cove of witches with plans to eat them and destroy the world (or at least men). In is in its first half, the film is a crude (and very funny) commentary about Spain's dominant maternal society. The technical aspects like the car chase are very well staged and produced.The second half is an horror story played for fun with a few extreme gory / bad taste scenes and happy (or not so happy?) but far from politically correct ending. The FX are fine but could use some improvement. The cast is very good ; Hugo Silva is fine as the conflicted divorced / thief and Mario Casas (the most reliable commercial actor currently in Spain) is really funny.The women are OK; but nothing special. Carmen Maura and Macarena Gomez deliver very bitchy performances; but usually you expect far more from them. Carolina Bang is sexy but her character is underwritten. The same happens with Santiago Segura and Carlos Areces; two excellent comedians working as witches with timid results . In brief; it is very dark comedy; and very unusual comedy. It is really worth watch it.
Andres Salama
This is not Spanish director Alex De La Iglesia's best effort (my personal favorite is Ferpect Crime), but is entertaining and watchable, if you like his brand of anarchic, corrosive, politically incorrect and pitch black humor. Here three misogynistic thieves on the run, trying to flee to France after a botched burglary in Madrid, end up in a little Basque village called Zugarramurdi (a place in which there was a real witch trial in the 17th century) where they are captured by a coven of feminist witches (the leader of which is Almodovar regular Carmen Maura) who subject them to a number of torments. Many more outrageous things happen, but they are not for me to reveal. A couple of very beautiful actresses (Carolina Bang and Macarena Gomez) help the film.