The Wretched: The Witch in the Rear Window

Do you appreciate the sublime cinematography and unrelenting dread of art-horror opus’ like The Witch? The weaving twists of Hitchcock’s suspense? The discomposing body horror corpus of Sam Raimi? Wherever you may happen to fall in the aforementioned triumvirate of inclinations, Brett Pierce and Drew T. Pierce’s The Wretched may be one of your new favorite films.

The sophomore film from the spawn of Evil Dead (1981) FX artist Bart Pierce, The Wretched uses a svelte, Rear Window-inspired plot and augments it with impeccable practical effects, celestial-tier cinematography courtesy of Connor Murphy, and just the right amount of B-Movie schlock to easily cement its status as a future cult classic.

Coping with the imminent divorce of his parents, Ben (John-Paul Howard) moves in with his father (Jamison Jones) in a seemingly-idyllic, waterside town. He quickly makes the acquaintance of the quirky, sardonic Mal (Piper Curda), as well as the village meatheads, before stumbling into the path of a centuries-old evil. Such an ambitious premise: blending raw, technical wizardry with nuanced and shocking visual storytelling without seeming stilted, has been the downfall of many directors. However, the brother’s Pierce take the dreaded sophomore slump and craft out of it an exquisite, epidermal, evening ensemble. Not once does The Wretched’s ravenous consumption of its influences cause it to bloat beyond its sleek skin…

Attempting to ground such a tale in a manner that allows for sensible suspension of disbelief is fruitless if the performers participating don’t treat the material with the respect it deserves, however, I’m happy to report that not a single one of the thespians involved in The Wretched phone it in. Now, none of the cast will be nominated for Oscars, but I can only imagine this outcome’s preferable.

After all, John-Paul Howard’s already dealt with one antediluvian atrocity adorned in biped bark. Hell, Piper Curda plays the teenage, summer fling so well that she’d undoubtedly unveil the extant, Epsteinian proclivities at the Academy.

Rarely do we see a picture like this: Engorged on the cult, midnight movies of old, yet assiduously adroit. The Wretched will surely be a Witching hour staple from its digital and VOD release on May 1st to perpetuity and everyone involved should be extremely proud. An understated, technical triumph with a proficiently-paced plot wears sincerely schlocky skin in yet another IFC Midnight showpiece.

Madness Meter: 9/10

If you’d like to continue consuming cannibalistic content, check out David Rule’s No Love at Lovelocke: Giant Red-headed Cannibals over at the Sanctuary of the Strange.