‘Hex’ (2017) Movie Review

There are very few horror films that deal with Witches in a historical setting but Hex blends the two in a unique way. The synopsis is as follows:

During the English Civil War, two opposing soldiers find themselves trapped in a forest controlled by a Witch. They now must work together to survive.

Hex is directed by George Popov in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Oldroyd (The Befuddled Box of Betty Buttifint) as Richard, William Young (in his onscreen debut) as Thomas, Suzie Frances Garton (Robert) as The Witch, and Tony Broadbent as the Dead Officer.

 

With a very small budget of £1,000 (roughly $1.334) Hex shows that you don’t need millions of dollars to make a good film. Usually smaller budgeted films come across as having more money than they actually do, it is mainly due to the ingenuity of the crew working on the film.

Being a fan of period pieces it is always a nice surprise when you come across one that is in the horror genre. They are pretty rare in this day and age but back in the 60s and 70s, they were quite popular. Now I can’t say exactly how accurate this film is at the time of the English Civil War but nevertheless, I was hooked from the very beginning!

One thing I noticed right away is how beautiful this film looks. The cinematography is excellent and the scenery is just breathtaking! I can’t imagine how long it must have taken to scout out these remarkable locations but I applaud the effort that was put into it.

Next, I want to talk about the performances. With there only being three actors throughout the whole film and one of them only being in the film for the last act I was truly impressed by how well Daniel Oldroyd, Suzie Frances Garton, and William Young did. With poor acting, this film would have fallen apart. But the chemistry between Oldroyd and Young was excellent, especially when they are forced to work together to survive. My one complaint about this doesn’t have to do with the performances but with the fact that Garton as the Witch had such a small role in the film but when she was on screen she was mesmerizing!

While I enjoyed this film there was one big issue I had with it and that had to do with the runtime. At almost an hour and a half, it just felt too long. There were long chase sequences that, at first were filled with tension, lost my interest due to how long they were. Personally, I feel like this film could have cut about a half hour of its runtime to make it more tightly knit.

Hex is an excellent entry point for director and writer George Popov even if it does suffer a bit due to its length. If you are a fan of period piece horror you owe yourself to check this one out. Hex is available streaming on Amazon Prime.