Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Pyewacket Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 5, 2018

A few years ago, writer/director Adam MacDonald made his helming debut with “Backcountry.” There have been many killer bear pictures, but MacDonald’s endeavor was one of the best, mixing the brutality of nature and the terror of survival, managing to do something thrilling with familiar genre elements. With “Pyewacket,” an odd title for sure, MacDonald turns his attention to the pains of adolescence, with the main character dealing with social concerns, motherly influence, and good old fashioned dark magic. A slow-burn chiller with an excellent sense of creepiness, “Pyewacket” handles evil and angst with tremendous skill. MacDonald doesn’t have much money to bring the nightmare to life, but he’s an inventive moviemaker with a refreshing concentration on behavior, not overt shocks, giving the feature a dramatic foundation before it all goes to Hell.

Leah (Nicole Munoz) is just trying to make it day-to-day as an average team, having suffered a horrible loss with the death of her father a year ago. She puts her faith in friends like Janice (Chloe Rose), a boyfriend in Aaron (Eric Osborne), and the comfort of death metal and occult books, showing interest in knowing all she can about demonic practices and spellcasting. Leah struggles to live with her mother, Mrs. Reyes (Laurie Holden), who’s dealing with depression, fighting off claustrophobia in a house she once shared with the love of her life. Trying to shake off the blues, Mrs. Reyes decides to sell the family home and move to a place in the woods, looking for fresh start. When tensions surrounding the relocation spill over, and Mrs. Reyes says cruel things to her daughter, Leah turns to black magic to solve her problems, using a spell to summon the monster Pyewacket, ordering it to kill her mother.

Much like “Backcountry,” “Pyewacket” also embraces the deception of normality, using everyday activities to bring the audience in closer. Instead of a camping trip with a loving couple, the helmer turns his attention to Leah, a seemingly average teen who’s found her social group in high school, making friends with the “evil” kids who enjoy raging death metal, sneaking joints, and sampling elements of the occult, with Leah even making a trip to a book signing to meet Rowen (James McGowan), her favorite author. There are classes to attend and home life to endure, but the cracks in this suburban foundation are trigged by death, with the loss of Leah’s dad wounding her in ways she’s still trying to process, while Mrs. Reyes is lost in depression, behaving angrily and erratically as she tries to continue with her routine. It’s a troubled mother/daughter relationship, but an authentically strained union that mirrors the recent “Lady Bird,” only here there’s a pronounced tilt toward witchcraft.

MacDonald gives the move north a classic horror set-up, positioning Mrs. Reyes and Leah in a cabin in the woods situation where all they have is each other, surrounded by acres of dense forest. “Pyewacket” also offers more traditional eeriness emerging from unexplained noises and unnerving visits to an attic space, but the general mood is more procedural, watching Leah put together the initial cocktail of hair and milk to complete the modest ritual, following a recipe for malevolence found in one of her occult books. She cuts her wrist to finish off the brew with blood, leaving an open wound that’s cleverly revisited a few times, finding Leah’s personal contribution to her curse suggesting something far more agonized to her mother, halting their casually abusive relationship. “Pyewacket” doesn’t linger on the summoning, instead returning to Leah and her blurring reality, coming to the realization that her furious plan to murder her parent might actually result in the loss of Mrs. Reyes, generating remorse and soon panic -- a gift she shares with Janice during a sleepover.

Pyewacket Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Pyewacket" brings the HD-shot feature to Blu-ray with a certain level of stability. Artifacting is an issue, with banding detected periodically and with varying intensity. The basics of cinematographic achievement are protected, with shallow focus shooting bringing out decent facial textures, showcasing emotional extremes and, eventually, more horror-based makeup achievements. Locations keep their depths, and interiors retain their cabin appeal. Costuming also secures fibrous qualities, from denim to softer sweaters. Colors are intentionally dialed down to bring out the spooky mood, but primaries look fine, and forest encounters carry a sharp sense of autumnal presence. Delineation is acceptable.

Pyewacket Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix isn't working with bigness when it comes to the "Pyewacket" sonic experience, but offers a subtle immersion into the primary haunting. Dialogue exchanges are crisp, tracking performances with care as emotional extremes are achieved, along with some whispered demonic planning. Scoring and soundtrack selections are supportive and clear, with defined instrumentation and, for black metal hits, a clean read of performance fury. Surrounds are enveloping for forest jaunts, handling crunchy and windy atmospherics. Low-end rises up with violence and chiller emphasis.

Pyewacket Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (17:34, HD) intends to be more about salesmanship than production exploration, with writer/director Adam MacDonald opening with a detailed synopsis of "Pyewacket," explaining plot points and emotional connections. Interviews with Laurie Holden and Nicole Munoz delve into lengthy character discussions, explaining history and motivations. MacDonald returns to explore casting needs, with Munoz's audition tape shared, and BTS footage is provided to help understand the on-set mood while working around chilly, woodsy locations. The featurette closes with a fascinating look at the execution of a fire stunt, meeting the team in charge of safety and performance.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:40, HD) is included.

Pyewacket Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Pyewacket" isn't a slasher film and it's not a James Wan-esque jump-a-thon. MacDonald keeps his cool, preferring to get under Leah's skin and explore the collision of adolescent impulse and uncontrollable witchcraft, eschewing bold sequences of shredded nerves for something subtle and disquieting, eventually leading to a haunting conclusion. With "Backcountry" and now "Pyewacket," MacDonald clearly has a gift for small-scale dread and a love for the great outdoors (and all the mystery and menace it provides), continuing a compelling career with another solidly constructed, superbly measure nightmare.