Return of the Salem Witch is a 2022 British horror drama film about a group of students stuck inside for the holidays, unable to drive home due to bad weather conditions. They soon find themselves conducting a modern-day witch trial.
Directed by Jack E. Bell (Honey Trap; Island of the Dolls; The Curse of Humpty Dumpty 2; assistant director on Amityville Scarecrow 2; Jack and Jill Return; ) from a screenplay written by Sam Gurney (Prototype).
Co-produced by Scott Jeffrey (The Mutation; Bad Nun: Deadly Vows; Don’t Speak; Cupid; ClownDoll) and Rebecca Matthews (Reign of Chaos; Exorcist Vengeance; The Gardener; Pet Graveyard). Executive produced by Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland.
The Proportion Productions movie stars Danielle Scott (The Curse of Humpty Dumpty; Spider in the Attic; Doctor Carver), Arabella Clark, Sarah Alexandra Marks (Minacious; Witch; The Killing Tree; Croc!; Pterodactyl; Monster Portal; Help), Kelly Rian Sanson, Sarah T. Cohen (Jurassic Island; Medusa; HellKat; Cupid; Witches of Amityville Academy), Annabel Hammond, Heaven-Leigh Spence, Giedre Jackyte, Chris Cordell and Christabel Clark.
Review:
Return of the Salem Witch is mostly weak and uneventful. Essentially, it’s an uninvolving drama rather than horror with lots of bickering and bitching from the almost entirely female cast in the same claustrophobic youth hostel setting used for Dinosaur Hotel and some other productions with only occasional cut-aways to woodland shots and the moon to break the monotony.
Performances are for the most part better than in many previous movies from this low-budget production team. The echoey audio is perhaps the film’s worst aspect, although at least the film’s short running time is welcome. Overall, it’s watchable despite a rather unsubtle feminine message which would have been patently obvious had it not been rammed home. Unfortunately, anyone unused to threadbare genre productions such as this will likely be repelled by the somewhat slapdash presentation.
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES and MANIA
Trailer:
Choice dialogue:
Meadow [Christabel Clark]: “Do you never get tired of being a sarcastic bitch?”
Filming locations:
Bradford, Yorkshire
Technical specs:
1 hour 22 minutes
