|
With Amber Pictures micro-budget “The
Witches Hammer,” it’s best not to get too caught up on logic. Most times
with films about vampire warriors, logic should be pretty much thrown
out the window. While I enjoy exercising logic in every way possible
with film, some movies pretty much establish their positions from the
get go. It’s not difficult to see that “The Witches Hammer” is very low
budget, but that doesn’t stop director Eaves from performing a bang up
job creating a visually orgasmic action horror flick. One scene in
particular involves our character Rebecca, now a vampire, looking out
onto a sunny day while her husband and son play in the distance.
|
She watches in tears, as her skin begins to
burn without much focus on the sun’s punishment to her
vampiric form. I dug the hell out of it. We’ve seen it here
in the states a thousand times. Vampire turned into martial
arts warrior by secret organization and is sent on a mission
to defeat another vampire baddie with specialized gadgets
and a kick ass ride. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have
fun with the same formula again and again. Eaves does it
right. |
|
 |
He makes “The Witches Hammer” visually
appealing, and rather entertaining, with the pre-requisite montage of
Rebecca learning sword fighting, gun toting, and the like.
But then Eaves completely turns the story on
its ass, once the secret organization housing Rebecca is slaughtered,
and she’s recruited by a slayer to travel across the world to look for
an ancient book that would raise the dead. Thus, we’re propelled into a
globe-trotting story, involving a re-incarnated vampire, witches,
sorcerers, and a demonic dwarf and his heavy master. Eaves direction is
not without notice, as he manages to pull off some sleek editing that
brings the story together well, and builds a fun horror action camp
hybrid that audiences will enjoy.
One of the biggest caveats of “The Witches
Hammer” is Eaves’ intent to focus in on every character’s face through
quick close-up. Through this, he unintentionally slows down the pacing
of the story, and the fight scenes feeling the need to have all the
vampires reveal their fangs, while all the witches glare blankly in
response to Rebecca. I get it, they’re vampires and witches. This slows
down the build-up to the battles and I was distracted, especially since
Rebecca seems accepting of her fate one moment, and then revels in her
form the next. Her character never amounts of a solid framework, and
Eaves instead make her character wholly uneven. “The Witches Hammer” can
never find its stride in balancing camp with action horror, and it shows
with the odd characters of the vampiric dwarf and his heavy friend who
take the screen in a rather uneven approach toward camp by Eaves. Eaves
can never seem to completely grasp his own concept and never takes it
seriously enough. But then again, there’s not much to do with this
concept anymore, aside from the neat globetrotting direction halfway
into story.
Eaves globe trotting vampire actioner isn't perfect. The camp stands out
from the earnest adventure story, but the familiar premise is saved by
tight and awfully appealing direction and visuals from Eaves who makes
"The Witches Hammer" worth the watch.
- For more
information on "The Witches Hammer," visit the official homepage of
Amber
Pictures.
|
