The Witch Who Came From The Sea - Will's Review

Wow, that was an odd one - and a tough one to review, as I can't decide which aspects of the plot are spoilers, as everything is slowly drip fed thorough the movie.

Part exploitation movie, part artful insight into a woman's crumbling sanity, The Which Who Came from The Sea is nothing like the title (or box art) would have you believe - it almost sits as a companion piece to Nightmare in a Damaged Brain; sharing much of that films dreamlike quality, and slow reveal of a childhood trauma.



At its heart is a clearly troubled woman, Molly, who lives with her sister, and her sisters 2 boys.

Molly works at a local bar, has a steady relationship with her (married) boss, and idolizes men, particularly stereo-typically masculine men, TV stars and, most especially, her Father, a sailor who she says was lost at sea (her sister claims he is dead, and in the local cemetery); however as much as she idolizes men, she also has a deep seated hatred of them - in an early scene, she watches 3 muscle bound hunks working out on the beach, clearly admiring the budges in their trunks, while also imagining them slain; their bodies strewn around the exercise equipment.

The whole film is also interesting from a gender reversal point of view - here we have a central character, driven (possibly) to do bad things (possibly) due to an event in their past... that's the setup for just about every slasher / serial killer movie (although this is neither) from Psycho onward, but here, for once, the character is a woman! We also have sexual exploitation shots, where the camera lingers on the (admittedly, clothed) sexual organs of one sex, while the other sex's nudity is framed much more casually - only here we get passing shots of topless ladies, and extended shots of penis-filled swimwear. For some reason though, and weather its the gender reversal I don't know, here the movie is much more sympathetic to our lead; While Norman Bates may be the result of a mother's abuse, he is still painted as the "Psycho", whereas Molly is very defiantly a victim; whether or not she is also a killer. (Side Note: "Psycho" gets a shout out at one point, as we are reminded "We all go a little cray sometimes")

It's a very schizophrenic piece, deals with child sexual abuse, but never lingering on, or sensationalizing it, one second, and having a Malabo pool-party (complete with the promise of casual sex with a movie star) the next, but this duality works entirely in it's favor.

Not a horror movie, thriller, drama or even exploitation flick in any traditional sense of the word, if you're mad for only one genre, I'd have to tell you to stay away. If however you consider yourself a general 'film fan' I really do think you should check this one out.

Body Count: 3
Boob Count: 3 pairs
Gratuitous Crotch Shots: 3
Most Memorable Death: Of all the times to have a heart attack...

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