188.The Wretched; movie review

THE WRETCHED
Cert 15
95 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong horror, violence, suicide

"This looks rubbish." Mrs W had popped into the living room as I was watching the final ten minutes of The Wretched.
It took her 20 seconds to come up with a pithy verdict. I envied her not having wasted the previous 85 minutes.
Mrs W tends to avoid the horror genre because so many of the movies repeat the same old cliches.
However, I subject myself to monsters, ghouls and haunted houses for the sake of everyfilm's completeness.
And in the hope of the occasional film which breaks out of the cycle of trash.
Unfortunately, The Wretched does not. It is a B-movie and that doesn't stand for brilliant, beautiful or brave. Bilge would be nearer the mark.
It stars John-Paul Howard as Ben, the son of estranged parents who is staying with his dad (Jamison Jones) near the marina at which he works.
Ben is struggling to fit in with the established teenage group when he becomes sidetracked by the activities of his next-door neighbour (Zarah Mahler) who he believes could be a witch.
Of course, nobody takes any notice of his claims, least of all her husband (Kevin Bigley) who seems to be in a strange trance.
So, here we are with another loner teenager having to persuade people in a new neighbourhood that evil is in their midst.
How do you reckon he gets on?
If Drew and Brett Pierce's film has a grain of originality, I failed to spot it.
Children being abducted, minds being wiped, monsters taking over the bodies of normal people, a split family and a bit of a love story running parallel despite the terror.
It's all here as well as the lead-in to a potential sequel and the prospect of another hour and a half which I will never get back.

Reasons to watch: If you are a 15-year-old horror fan
Reasons to avoid: A mountain of genre cliches

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: Bare bum
Overall rating: 3/10

Did you know? Due to the few films playing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Wretched topped the US box office in its limited opening weekend, earning $65,908 from 12 cinemas.

The final word. Drew and Brett Pierce: "We had the itch to do a new interpretation of the witch myth and build a new set of rules and a mythology that was couched in some familiar folklore about witches in various cultures." Rue Morgue

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