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October 2, 2013

Movie Review: Wither (2012, Artsploitation Films)


 ...ya know?? This viewer gets a fairly good kick out of eager and ambitious young filmmakers who, over the years, have attempted to inspirationally emulate the unconventional and amiably engaged quirkings, which have long set the standard...the alluring bar, as far as embraced genre and cult films. It's a filmmaker's exercise, not unlike that of trying to marry specific chemicals together in a science experiment, based solely on the success of what has been seen before, rather than adhering to a concise list of chemicals, and their concise measurements. Tip the scales on one or more of the elements, to the greater or to the lesser, and the whole outcome might well change...sometimes for the better, and unfortunately, at times, for the worse. Such is the case, as far as director Sam Raimi's unflinching and visceral 1981 horror classic, "The Evil Dead", and the resulting 'homages', alternate takes...and let's face it...knock-offs and copycats, over the ensuing years; after all, some very interesting...and well, at the very least, very peculiar things have been done with the old 'awakening an evil, while in a secluded cabin in the woods' scenario. Most can site the obvious...2012's "Cabin in the Woods", 2002's "Cabin Fever", and of course, the recent remake of the Raimi classic. However, who out there, has seen the emulative 2010 horror oddity, "Primal"?? Or how about the clever and surreal, albeit relatively gore-tame 1990 effort, "Demon Wind"?? And who genuinely remembers the insanely crazed, creepy and bizarre 1970 horror entry, "Equinox", which predates 'Evil Dead' by a decade?? Some, quite memorable...some, quite forgettable...and some, rather under-appreciated. And with the recent homage to "The Evil Dead"...a 2012 Swedish import, simply titled "Wither"?? Eh, Monty Hall...I'm afraid we're gonna have to take (...trap) door number two, on that one, please...


...taking little deviation and liberties from, as well as assuming little originality from that standard and classic 'cabin in the woods' premise, we open up with a young couple, who gathers a group of close friends, and heads out to a secluded house, away from the suburban hustle and bustle of their everyday lives. Once at the house...after a brief visit from a cantankerous local caretaker, who warningly jutts out the typical craze-speak...something along the lines of "...heh, heh, there's a legend, in these here parts"...things take a decisively rowdy and celebrative turn...that is, until one of the friends...a curious young gal...sets off on her own, to explore the house. Finding the basement, and disappearing into the dark, upon seeing...something...the gal later remerges, and rejoins her friends...appearing a bit dazed, and clearly not herself. Taking ill, and again breaking from the group, the gal retires to the bathroom...and once there, undergoes a hideous and bloody transformation...becoming savagely monstrous and demonic. Emerging from the bathroom, she begins viciously attacking her friends, and in a generalized standardization of plot, those whom she attacks, also become monstrous, flesh-hungry, bloodthirsty creatures...whom of course, have to be dismembered, decapitated and/or quite literally stomped into the ground. To make a long story short, as well as to quote an often coined, and well...quite cliched movie blurb, "...who will be left, and what will be left of them..."...

 ...now, giving proper credit where credit's due here, this viewer really has to give a good measure of gumption and kudos to the young and ambitious filmmakers, who engaged this production. After all, taking on the indomitable 'Evil Dead' mantle is a most respectable task to undertake, especially in attempting to prove that such a concept can still be effectively rendered, given a minuscule, albeit respectable budget...in the case of this film, 300,000 Swedish Krona, which equates to just under $47,000. However, the proof is definitely in the pudding, in that "Wither" (...a curious choice of titles, considering that in some venues, the much more exploitative title, "Cabin of the Dead", was used) assuredly carries through, in that respect. Given equal parts inspiration from not only "The Evil Dead", but also, the 1985 Lamberto Bava/Dario Argento gore-fest, "Demons", fledgling directors Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wicklund have afforded a most creepy, chilling and visceral take on the classic 'cabin in the woods' shtick. In fact, the filmmakers were clearly and unapologetically inclined to favor the more over-the-top gory and blood-drenched aspects of the classically rustic scenario, applied herein...and giving the storyline itself, a much more deadly serious tone, with little to none of the typical dark humor, known measurably associated with this premise, from film to film, in the past. And yet, for all of the ensuing ambition, it is that latter aspect, where the tense and anguished, played-out proceedings in "Wither", notably falter...


...forgivable, is the generic, predictable, beat-by-beat, by-the-numbers dialog, rendered by the young cast...the cookie-cutter performances by all herein, is...in a way, rather expected. This naturally leads to that, which leads to this other thing...and on and on and on...until the 'seen-from-a-mile-away' finale comes to pass. However, what is marked as most skewed and awkward, in these ghastly proceedings is this: These characters are initially shown to be the closest of friends, who seemingly appear to care for one another, very much; and yet, when one-by-one, each of these hapless characters are possessed by the invading evil, there's very little to no hesitation as to what needs to be done...there's no compassionate '...oh my gawd!! I can't kill him/her...he's/she's my best friend!!!" And in the end, this horrifically frantic, albeit dispassionate runaround culminates into something more like a ghastly and monstrous game of 'tag, you're it'...

...despite some exceptional (...and quite outrageously effective & bloody) make-up and special effects, as well as the aforementioned ambition and eagerness to not only lovingly emulate a particularly favorite genre film, but also, to do an exceptional lot, for amazingly little money and resources, "Wither" pretty much comes off as...well, ordinary; if the film was more akin to a destination, "Wither" wouldn't be an inordinately terrible place to visit; however, once there, one shouldn't expect too much, or expect to be too particularly blown away...

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