Darkside Witches

Director - Gerard Diefenthal
Starring - Eleonora Albrecht (The Teacher), Barbara Bouchet (Gangs of New York), and Simona Cappia
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror/Fantasy
Tagline - "True evil never dies"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Witches are one of the most underrated monsters in the horror genre.  There is so much folklore around these evil creatures that is rich in history and possibilities.  Sadly, very few films involving witches has been made over the years and even fewer in the last decade or so.  Growing up I loved Halloween because ABC Family, before switching to Fox Family and then back to ABC Family, would air several films involving witches and all three were fucking fantastic.  Those films were; The Witches starring Anjelica Houston, The Worst Witch starring a young Fairuza Balk, and Teen Witch starring Robyn Lively.  I know most men don't admit their love for these films but they were all fantastic and it was great seeing witches in films even if the horror was meant for children.  Modern horror has seen a few releases focusing on witches but not enough to notice.  Recently, Brain Damage Films was kind enough to send me a review copy of Darkside Witches.  This release really excited me for obvious reasons so as soon as I had the time to check it out I tossed it in.
     In the late 1500s several women was burned at the stake during the Inquisition. The last woman to burn swears allegiance to a demon.  Now, the women are reborn as bloodthirsty witches.   The women go on a savage rampage killing every man they come in contact with.  They kill a catholic priest, the mayor, and several other men in the small, mountainous town which draws the attention of the Vatican who sends in a warrior priest to battle the witches with a small team.  However, once the conflict with the witches is engaged they discover that the witches has ties deep inside the Vatican and that is how they had got away with so much murder.
     Stories about witches have endless possibilities but they never capitalize on that.  Instead, they always go the same route involving witches burning at the stake and selling their souls for the greater evil.  Very few films involve witches take us down a different path and, sadly, Darkside Witches is not one of those films.  The film gives us more of the same with nothing new being offered.  The acting in this one is very amateurish and actually puts me in mind of the horror porn spoofs that I had seen in the past.  Funny thing is, this film actually has a softcore sex scene way more graphic than most of the sex scenes we are given in most horror flicks.  The story for this one is something we have seen countless times in the past with nothing new being offered.  The story involving burned witches and demons is nothing new and the warrior priest angle does mix it up a bit but it is something we have still seen before.  Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills with some being pretty impressive but they are ruined by unnecessary CGI and visual effects that over complicate them.  The film does, however, have several beautiful scenes full of visual effects and CGI that does improve the film's imagery but it is then ruined by SyFy quality creatures and demons.  Overall, Darkside Witches is a promising film that does not offer up any kind of quality entertainment.  I can not recommend this one.