Hex (2017) Reviews

• A great story about self discovery, fighting our demons not only a war

  gustcloacsavior2017-11-22

  A great story about self discovery, fighting our inner demons and not only a war. It is set in contrasting locations - mesmerizing and bone-chilling making the nature a silent observer of what's unraveling in the movie. Beautiful sceneries of lush forests are intertwined with eerie and ominous caves, passages and abandoned occult places. It is a balance of night and day light and dark. What I Found to be truly great is the fact that a movie of this size tells a compelling story about two soldiers fighting in the civil war. One of the main accomplishments of it is that through the narrative I actually cared about them, the decisions they made, the moral dilemmas they had, the tough choices they had to take. The movie also deserves credit for managing to show us most of our own emotional spectrum - from rage, anger, fear, sadness, remorse, loss of a loved one, faith, god, empathy and doubt. Our two main heroes are not flat two dimensional soldiers. There was also a lot of attention to detail and anyone with a keen eye is sure to spot it. From snapping twigs, to how corpses behave, to how water flows and moves, the costumes, the camp, and and every other tiny aspect one might miss or take for granted or miss in the scenery. Definite must watch for everyone looking for something out of the usual Hollywood mystery/horror mould

• Hex: I'm on the fence

  Platypuschow2018-02-14

  This British made miniscule budget horror is quite the film as when the credits rolled I honestly didn't know quite what to make of it. I was left scratching my head and thinking about what I had just watched in depth. Set during the British civil war it tells the story of two soldiers from rival sides who are forced to put their differences aside as they realise that something within the forest is hunting them. Beautifully shot Hex manages to create an atmosphere and the cast do a great job. In fact considering this cost around £1000 to make I'm highly impressed. Now here is the thing though, building all that tension did it actually deliver in the end? My answer is, I'm not really sure. I feel like the ending was certainly questionable, open to intepretation and an interesting moral talking point. For what it is Hex is an accomplishment in film making undeniably but as a horror movie it lacks in areas it really shouldn't. Damn fine effort all things considered. The Good: Outstanding considering the budget Looks beautiful Well made The Bad: Anti-climatic ending Far too much yellow power ranger talk, I mean Barney the dinosaur, Bilbo Baggins? Sorry I always get my fictional characters mixed up, god.....too much god talk Things I Learnt From This Movie: Upon learning that you are being stalked by a supernatural entity your courses of action should include splitting up and removing your armour.

• Tense Psychological Thriller

  hmrussell2017-11-27

  This is a beautifully shot film that explores the tensions of the English Civil War. The locations are amazing and really add to the atmosphere of the film. The tension gradually rises until an unexpected end that leaves the viewer thinking about the film long after it finishes. The acting is good , the cinematography is wonderful and the use of natural light is haunting. This is an amazing debut for these directors. Excited to say what they will do next.

• English Civil war witchcraft movie

  geeklegionofdoom2017-11-23

  During the English civil war in the seventeenth century, two soldiers from opposing sides find themselves deep in the forest, but they may not be alone. With an uneasy alliance these two men fear they are trapped in the forest by the supernatural forces of a witch What works - A period drama with horror elements. - This movie has a great ending the makes you re-think the film and puts you as a viewer in a uncomfortable position, making you think about how you perceive things and question what you would do in this situation. Makes you think about how soldiers would deal with ptsd in those days. - Sells the authenticity of the period - Some wells shot spooky scenes What doesn't work

• Bland and rather unremarkable effort

  kannibalcorpsegrinder2017-11-18

  Deep in the English Civil War, several soldiers on opposite sides of the war find their initial attempts to kill each other to be a side issue with their more pressing concerns of a ravenous witch in the forest with them and must put their differences aside to escape the mutual threat. For the most part, this one was a pretty bad British horror effort. The technical qualities here are top-notch, as the lush forest and hillsides look quite creepy and chilling especially in the scenes with the two getting tormented by the witch's spells deep in the woods. As well, there's some decent work here with the overall concept of the witch in the woods in general which is nicely played up here with their paranoia over the situation and making for a fine enough time here. While these give this one some rather enjoyable elements here, the film does have some rather problematic areas. One of the main issues here is that the sense of pacing is so shoddy that it can be a detriment at times. That is the biggest problem to this one since it plays out so slowly that the running time feels far longer than it really is as events play out in an agonizing fashion with the length of time it takes to follow through. Hardly anything happens here at all for such long stretches of time that needlessly pads out the film more than it really should for nearly an entire hour here before anything really happens as the pacing is that off. Likewise, this one does have a few issues with its overtly obvious budget limitations. The simplistic plot, minimalist cast and generally one-note setup here all come across as being plainly obvious about the true nature of the film and it does make this rather obvious. There's a lot this overcomes, but it does become a part of the obvious nature of the film's overall look and feel which is so blatant about this issue that it does become a hindrance. Otherwise, this one doesn't have much else going for it. Rated Unrated/R: Violence.