The Amityville train is still chugging along. This time, it stops at a station that looks eerily ‘witchy.’ Take it as you will, but it is clear that most movies with Amityville in the title have nothing to do with the original horror.
The original is 112 Ocean Avenue, but this was not the attempt made by writer Tom Jolliffe and director Rebecca Matthew, so, yes, it does apply.
Witches of Amityville, just like Amityville Scarecrow, is set in England, even if they try to hide that. Jessica (Sarah T. Cohen) should be thrilled about receiving an acceptance letter to Amityville Academy but she is not thrilled she never applied to it. Alarm bells should be ringing or at least there should be some phone inquiries made, but she is content to go along with it. Why? I want to know.
There, she encounters her new schoolmate and on the first night, they find themselves getting ready to be sacrificed to some woman called Dominque (Amanda-Jade Tyler). Understand why you need to ask questions?
Before her throat is cut (the other girl isn’t quite as lucky), Jessica is saved by a group of women known as the Belle Witches. A Kira Reed Lorsch, Ellena Brittan Taylor and Lucy (Donna Spangler) take Jessica back to their house where they explain how Amityville Academy works.
It is run by Dominique and her coven of witches who plan on sacrificing a sufficient amount of girls to summon the demon Botis. The Belle Witches are their sworn enemies and would do everything to stop the emergence of Botis. And Jessica is the key to this plan.
Without sounding like a broken record, let’s put it out there that Witches of Amityville is not a bad movie. The story is tired but it’s executed decently. The cast, almost all female, do a decent job and even the more gory effects are not overly unconvincing.
All of which would indicate that Witches of Amityville is in the upper echelons of Amityville named horrors. Except it has one gaping massive problem. One that really drags down the quality.
The point is that Witches of Amityville is not a horror film at all. There is too little magic, violence, or any attempt at gore for the movie to be classified as horror. There is insufficient atmosphere due to the film’s low effort attempt at modernizing witches, and the witches spend way too much time rambling about their so-called craft.
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