Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Two Witches Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 12, 2022

Two Witches' co-writer, director, producer, editor, score contributor and one assumes craft services provider Pierre Tsigaridis is on hand in some supplements included on this disc where he overtly mentions "folk horror" elements in this film he wanted to exploit. That might remind some fans of the recently reviewed All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror set that Severin Films put out a while back, and which aggregated a really interesting and at times completely weird group of films that at least (witches'?) danced around elements of folklore, myth and legend. Two Witches is itself something of a "collection" in that it offers "chapters" doling out different stories which are only ultimately (if predictably) revealed to be intertwined. As a number of people on the creative team of the film get into in the bounteous bonus features included with this release, Two Witches is also basically a "setup" for what Tsigaridis and co-creator Maxime Rancon envision as a new franchise, and in fact a follow up outing has already been written and is evidently in the early stages of production as this review is being written.

While there are in fact several witches at least interstitially in this film, one assumes the two in question in terms of the film's title are the duo identified by the two main "chapters" in this film, The Boogeywoman (Marina Parodi) and Masha (Rebekah Kennedy). Not so coincidentally, these two characters turn out to be related, though that aspect isn't explored until chapter two, since the first vignette involves The Boogeywoman putting a so-called "evil eye" spell on a hapless pregnant woman named Sarah (Belle Adams). And in fact "The Boogeywoman", this film's first chapter, has undeniable echoes of Rosemary's Baby running through it, though the fact that the film actually opens with The Boogeywoman eating a baby probably indicates the "subtext" may be a bit different.

One of several questions I had about Two Witches is that it sure seems like it's both The Boogeywoman and Masha in this opening scene, which for a number of reasons, may not make total sense, though there is a way to weave it into the film's overall revelations. After Sarah and husband Simon (Ian Michaels) encounter The Boogeywoman at a local restaurant (evidently an hour after eating a baby, you want more), there's a brief depiction of a supposedly Black Magic ritual where The Boogeywoman suddenly has a photograph of Sarah, which I also found a little baffling, given the information (or lack thereof) that had been imparted. One way or the other, this first chapter documents the rather Rosemary-like arc of Sarah, who is convinced she's under some kind of Demonic spell, but finds at least initially that she isn't believed. This chapter also works in a kind of psychic named Melissa (Dina Silva) and her boyfriend Dustin (Tim Fox), which leads to yet another inadvisable encounter with a Ouija board.

Commendably, the story ends up going in a radically different direction than the Ira Levin classic, with a somewhat ambiguous climax that is only much later more fully developed. The film then just kind of segues abruptly into Chapter Two, which is devoted to and named after Masha, who initially seems like a kind of wallflower type who is living in the shadow of her roommate Rachel (Kristina Klebe). Suffice it to say that if Masha seems like a wallflower, she still has a kinky side, and once her "family legacy" comes into play, she becomes an increasingly feral force, which leads to yet another calamitous climax, albeit this one largely plays out in one sequence, rather than being bifurcated like the first chapter's wrap up.

In that regard, while the film ostensibly offers two chapters, there is a whole coda (epilogue?) of sorts that finally details a bit more about both Sarah and Masha, and which obviously sets things up for the already announced sequel. Two Witches struck me as a lot of style at least intermittently in search of substance, or at least comprehensible substance. The problem here is not too little, but too much, with a rush of psychedelic and admittedly at least intermittently spooky imagery, but without a clear focus in terms of either character history or in fact ritual and ultimate motive. Both Tsigaridis and Rancon are more than enthused about what's yet to come in this nascent franchise, and they at least have a lot of material to work with going forward.

Two Witches Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Two Witches is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains only generic verbiage about the high definition master having been provided by the Rancon Company. The closing credits list the Arri, and the IMDb lists the Arri Alexa, though I haven't been able to dredge up any authoritative data on the resolution of the DI. That said, I would not be surprised to find out this had a 4K DI, as detail levels are often exceptional, despite a prevalence of "Arty" shots that can emphasize things like askew framings and image distortions. The palette is often eye poppingly saturated, even in some fairly dark scenes where sudden bursts of bright reds or purples can erupt. As Pierre Tsigaridis gets into on his commentary track, he purposefully shot scenes blurred, as in the opening vignette with the baby, and that can understandably lead to a lack of fine detail. There are some occasional slight variances in clarity with regard to some of the outdoor material in particular.

Two Witches Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Two Witches is another lower budget horror outing that has an often spectacularly impressive soundtrack, one that is offered here in either DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or LPCM 2.0 options. The surround track delivers some nice engagement of the side and rear channels for both spooky ambient environmental effects and especially the very interesting score which combines plaintive piano and orchestral cues with almost electronic or ambient sounds for an appropriately unsettling listening experience. There are some pretty hoary uses of jump cuts with sudden gushes of LFE obviously meant to provoke startle responses, which they do. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Two Witches Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries

  Audio commentary by director Pierre Tsigaridis

  
  

  Audio commentary by producer Maxime Rancon

• Behind the Movie Episode 1 (HD; 4:27) offers interviews with writer/director producer Pierre Tsigaridis, writer/producer Maxime Rancon and actor Rebekah Kennedy.


• Behind the Movie Episode 2 (HD; 8:10) features Tsigaridis and Rancon.


• Dina Silva Interview (HD; 15:54) features the actor portraying Melissa in the film, who was also an associate producer.


• The Boogeywoman (HD; 7:47) is an interview with Marina Parodi.


• The Original Score (HD; 10:44) is an interesting interview with composer Gioacchino Marincola, who demonstrates how he tweaked sounds like blowing into an oboe reed (without the oboe attached) to get some of the odd, haunting sounds that suffuse the soundtrack.


• The Piano Score (HD; 10:50) features Tsigaridis discussing how he asked Marincola to adapt various Lizst pieces. He offers a brief litany of films that have used Lizst's fiery compositions, but kind of funnily leaves out The Mephisto Waltz.


• Test Footage (HD; 1:33)


• Grimmfest Q & A with Pierre Tsigaridis and Maxime Rancon (HD; 30:15) is a Zoom like interview from October 2021 with moderator Simret Cheema-Innis.


• Teasers and Trailers

  Two Witches Trailer (HD; 1:32)

  
  

  Two Witches 2022 Teaser Trailer 1 (HD; 1:00)

  
  

  Two Witches 2022 Teaser Trailer 2 (HD; 00:54)

  
  

  Silent Night Teaser (HD; 1:17)

  
  

  Masha and Grandma Teaser (HD; 1:00)

• Image Galleries

  Image Gallery (HD; 14:50)

  
  

  Behind the Scenes Image Gallery (HD; 2:20)

  Both of the above feature the film's score as accompaniment.

Additionally, Arrow provides their typically well appointed insert booklet, and this release also features a folded mini poster and slipcover.

Two Witches Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arrow continues to curate a really commendable slate of relatively unknown talent in the horror idiom in particular, and there is absolutely no doubt that Pierre Tsigaridis has a fine eye (and ear) for nicely spooky images and sounds. Tsigaridis and Rancon may be able to weave any number of dangling plot threads from this effort together as this newly minted franchise moves on, and that may in turn help ameliorate certain narrative deficits this film has while standing on its own. I will add in a passing joke, since this film repeatedly uses a pretty hoary presentational trope for the witches' eyes, that they have surgery for cataracts these days. This is a really interesting effort one way or the other, and as usual Arrow provides solid technical merits and an outstanding slate of supplements. With caveats noted, Recommended.