The Dark Eyes of London site has been a rather singular pursuit of mine for the past five years, but I'm not immune to accepting the odd guest contribution from time to time - gives me time to go and make a cup of tea. The following has been written by Richard Halfhide, who has his own site, the extremely informative and highly commendable All Slights Deserved.
The name ‘Pyewacket’ first appeared in The Discovery of Witches, a 1647 pamphlet published by Matthew Hopkins, the infamous Witchfinder General. Described as having an appearance that “no mortal could invent”, Hopkins claimed Pyewacket was among a motley assortment of colourfully-titled familiar spirits (among them ‘Vinegar Tom’ and ‘Sacke and Sugar’) that a witch in Essex summoned forth following the witch hunters’ usual methods of persuasion, thereby earning herself a trip to the gallows for her troubles.
The name ‘Pyewacket’ first appeared in The Discovery of Witches, a 1647 pamphlet published by Matthew Hopkins, the infamous Witchfinder General. Described as having an appearance that “no mortal could invent”, Hopkins claimed Pyewacket was among a motley assortment of colourfully-titled familiar spirits (among them ‘Vinegar Tom’ and ‘Sacke and Sugar’) that a witch in Essex summoned forth following the witch hunters’ usual methods of persuasion, thereby earning herself a trip to the gallows for her troubles.
Fortunately, those dabbling in witchcraft today have less to
fear from Puritan reprisals, but far darker consequences may still ensue,
according to the latest effort by Canadian writer/director Adam MacDonald. It’s
the story of Leah (Nicole Muñoz), an angst-ridden teen whose fraught
relationship with her recently widowed mother (Laurie Holden) reaches breaking point
after the latter decides they should relocate to a remote house out in the
sticks. Determined to be rid of her antagonist, and inspired by a recent
meeting with an occult author, Leah casts a spell that inadvertently summons
the titular entity.
Nicole Muñoz as Leah in Pyewacket |
As the troubled teen, Muñoz performs ably, while Holden,
best known for her appearances in The Walking Dead, has the ideal face for her
ambivalent role, particularly in the latter stages. Unfortunately the script
really doesn’t really give them enough to delve beneath the surface of their dynamic
and the dialogue is sometimes wincingly clunky, making it difficult to feel
much sympathy for either.
There is, however, a foreboding atmosphere to the
cinematography and Pyewacket’s first appearance, a shadowy presence in the
corner of a room, is well executed. While it’s been bracketed with the new wave
of Canadian cinema, the tone (visually and figuratively) put me more in mind of
US indie psycho-thriller Super Dark Times. But whereas that film had the
confidence to let the dread simmer into a toxic brew, Pyewacket seems to feel
obliged to add further ingredients. One particular later scene featuring a
Skype conversation is a serious misstep; a sop to a commercial formula that
does the story no favours when it would have been better to explore Leah’s
growing sense of alienation.
Ultimately, it comes across oddly like a torn-from-the-headlines TV movie, as though the story had been inspired by an actual incident, albeit with some added sensationalism. This may have been the intention, but it feels like a clumsy compromise of plot over substance. As an exploration of the relationship between a mother and daughter, Pyewacket is clearly geared towards a very different audience than Greta Gerwig’s whimsical Lady Bird, but that doesn’t mean richer characterisation is off limits.
Ultimately, it comes across oddly like a torn-from-the-headlines TV movie, as though the story had been inspired by an actual incident, albeit with some added sensationalism. This may have been the intention, but it feels like a clumsy compromise of plot over substance. As an exploration of the relationship between a mother and daughter, Pyewacket is clearly geared towards a very different audience than Greta Gerwig’s whimsical Lady Bird, but that doesn’t mean richer characterisation is off limits.
No comments:
Post a Comment