Season of the Witch (2011 film)
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''Season of the Witch'' is a 2011 American
supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
-
adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...
starring
Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...
and
Ron Perlman Ronald Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in '' Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in the television series '' Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–1 ...
, and directed by
Dominic Sena Dominic Sena (born April 26, 1949) is an American film director and music video director. As a film director, he is best known for directing the films '' Kalifornia'' (1993), '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), and ''Swordfish'' (2001). As a music ...
. Cage and Perlman star as
Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
who return from the
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
to find their homeland devastated by the
Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
. Two church elders accuse a young woman ( Claire Foy) of being a witch responsible for the plague. They command the two knights to transport her to a distant monastery so the monks can lift her curse. The film reunited Sena and Cage, who had previously worked together on '' Gone in 60 Seconds''. Development on the film began in 2000 when the
spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
by screenwriter Bragi F. Schut was purchased by MGM. The project moved from MGM to
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
to
Relativity Media Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commerciall ...
, where the film was finally produced by Charles Roven and Alex Gartner. Filming took place primarily in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
, and
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...
. ''Season of the Witch'' was released on January 7, 2011, in the United States, Canada, and several other territories.


Plot

In
Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...
in the 13th century, three women are accused by a priest of
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
. The first confesses in an attempt to earn mercy. The second claims she made ointments but not magic potions. The third, a hag with a blind eye, does not deny the charge and curses the priest. All three are first hanged and then drowned. The priest pulls the three hanged corpses from the water for a religious ritual so they can never return to life. The priest performs the ritual on each using ''The
Key of Solomon The ''Key of Solomon'' ( la, Clavicula Salomonis; he, מפתח שלמה []) (Also known as "The Greater Key of Solomon") is a pseudepigraphical grimoire (also known as a book of spells) attributed to Solomon, King Solomon. It probably dates b ...
''. The first shows no sign of life. The hag's body vomits and twitches violently. The third corpse, the woman who had claimed to be an ointment maker, takes on a demonic appearance, sets the book on fire, and hangs the priest. In the 14th century, German
Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
Sir Behmen von Bleibruck and Sir Felson join crusades throughout the 1330s (1332 Gulf of Edremit, 1334 Siege of Tripoli, 1337 Imbros, and 1339 Artah), eventually joining the
Smyrniote crusades The Smyrniote crusades (1343–1351) were two Crusades sent by Pope Clement VI against the Emirate of Aydin under Umur Bey which had as their principal target the coastal city of Smyrna in Asia Minor. The first Smyrniote crusade was the brain ...
. After witnessing a civilian massacre during the 1344 capture of
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...
, the two abandon their knightly order and return to Austria. Traveling through
Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...
in Austria, Behmen and Felson encounter the sight of those infected with the Black Death, learning that the plague has swept the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. Trying to conceal their identities as deserters, Behmen's known sword crest reveals that they are crusader knights. They are arrested and taken to
Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...
D'Ambroise, who is near death from the plague. The Cardinal asks the knights to escort an alleged witch, suspected of causing the pestilence, to a remote monastery, where a group of monks can determine if she is truly a witch. If found guilty, they can perform a sacred ritual to cancel her powers and stop the plague. Both knights agree under the condition that she be given a fair trial and the charges of desertion against them be dropped. The Cardinal agrees, and they are accompanied by the priest Debelzaq; the altar boy, Kay von Wollenbarth, who wants to become a knight like his deceased father; another knight, Sir Johann Eckhardt, whose family was killed by the Black Death; finally, Hagamar, a well-traveled
swindler A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. Synonyms for ''charlatan'' include ''shy ...
, who will serve as their guide in return for his pardon. The young woman Anna from
Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximat ...
shows hatred towards Debelzaq, while forming a connection with Behmen. The group camp for the night and Johann takes first watch. When Debelzaq comes to relieve him, Johann says how much she reminds him of his dead daughter. He then goes on to speak of the ritual politics of her coming trial and how she can never be found ''not guilty'' by the Church with a plague curse everywhere. Johann decides to give up the mission and to convince the others to do the same, leaving Anna alone with Debelzaq. Anna becomes hysterical at the prospect of being left with him. She attacks and grabs his key to her cage and escapes. The search for her leads the group to a mass grave, where Johann begins having visions of his dead daughter calling to him. Chasing those visions, he accidentally impales himself on Kay's drawn sword and dies. When Anna is recaptured, the tearful young woman explains that she only ran away for fear of Debelzaq. They cross an old, crumbling suspension bridge, where Anna saves Kay from falling, grabbing him with unnatural strength. The group enters the dark forest, Wormwood, where Hagamar attempts to kill Anna, only to be stopped by the others. Anna appears to summon packs of wolves, which chase the group and kill Hagamar. An enraged Behmen tries to kill her but is stopped by Debelzaq and Felson, who point to their destination on a nearby summit. At the monastery, the men discover that all the monks have succumbed to the plague. They locate the ancient volume, ''The Key of Solomon'', filled with the holy rituals used to defeat evil. Debelzaq begins speaking the ritual used on witches. In a deep voice, Anna begins recounting Behmen's horror of Crusader cruelties, just as Debelzaq realizes that she is not a witch, but has been possessed by a demon. He frantically performs an
exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
. The demon that is possessing Anna finally reveals its form and melts the cage's metal, escaping, while fighting off the knights. When Debelzaq throws a container of
holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...
on it, the demon flies screeching out of sight. As the men search for it, they realize it is not trying to escape, but to destroy the book so that nothing can kill it. They find a room where the monks were making copies for others to use. The demon destroys the copies and possesses the dead monks to use as weapons. The three men fight the monks' possessed corpses, as Debelzaq continues the exorcism ritual. The demon snaps Debelzaq's neck and incinerates Felson. Kay continues the ritual, weakening it. Behmen fights the demon and is mortally wounded by it. Kay finishes the ritual, and the demon is consumed by holy fire. Behmen asks Kay to keep Anna safe just before he dies. After their fallen friends are buried, Anna asks Kay to tell her about the men who saved her. They both leave the monastery, the ''Book of Solomon'' safely in Kay's possession for mankind to use against the forces of evil.


Cast


Production


Development and filming

Screenwriter Bragi F. Schut wrote ''Season of the Witch'' as a
spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
that was placed on the open market in 2000. Numerous studios bid on the script, and producers Charles Roven and Alex Gartner collaborated with the studio MGM to place a winning bid. MGM could not find traction to produce the film, and in 2003–2004 the studio "was essentially obtained by a number of concerns".
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
earmarked several properties for themselves, including ''Season of the Witch''. The producers worked with director
Dominic Sena Dominic Sena (born April 26, 1949) is an American film director and music video director. As a film director, he is best known for directing the films '' Kalifornia'' (1993), '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), and ''Swordfish'' (2001). As a music ...
to perform
location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...
throughout Europe. They sought a 14th-century castle to use as a setting for the story; castles visited in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic could not fit the period. With the film yet to be produced, the project eventually moved to
Relativity Media Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commerciall ...
, and Sena was officially attached to direct. Business and creative discussions led to avoiding too much violence or gore in the film so a broader audience could see it. Actor
Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...
was considered for the starring role but was unavailable during the time of the location shooting. Cage eventually became available in 2008 and was cast in the role. He explained his interest, "I wanted to make movies that celebrated actors like
Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...
and
Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
, and the great
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
classics that are unafraid to explore the paranormal and the supernatural." The crew began production immediately after Cage finished '' Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'' (2009). The film had a budget of approximately US$40 million, and much of the budget was covered by Relativity with pre-sales to distributors outside the United States. Filming took place in Austria, Hungary and Croatia. Most of the principal photography took place in practical locations, with several days committed to filming on
greenscreen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and displa ...
. Scenes were filmed at
Burg Kreuzenstein Burg Kreuzenstein is a castle near Leobendorf in Lower Austria, Austria. Burg Kreuzenstein is above sea level. It was constructed on the remains of a medieval castle that had fallen into disrepair and was then demolished during the Thirty Years' ...
and on the Loser mountain. Principal photography was completed by April 2009, but the cast and crew re-gathered a few months later to film additional battle sequences, filming on greenscreen to save on travel.


Casting

Cage stars as Behman of Bleibruck, a
Teutonic knight The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
who returns from the Crusades to discover the devastation caused by the Black Plague. The actor had worked with director
Dominic Sena Dominic Sena (born April 26, 1949) is an American film director and music video director. As a film director, he is best known for directing the films '' Kalifornia'' (1993), '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), and ''Swordfish'' (2001). As a music ...
on '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000) and with producer Charles Roven on '' City of Angels'' (1998). Cage was interested in the film's fantastical subject matter, also having recently starred in ''
The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (german: "Der Zauberlehrling", link=no, italic=no) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas. Story The poem begins as an old magician (fantasy), sorcerer departs his ...
''. He also described Behmen as "the first"
conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
, saying, "I admired... the idea of him breaking from whatever religious propaganda was forced upon him, and still finding an even closer connection with his faith and with God. Those iconoclastic elements to the character made him very interesting to me." For the role, Cage learned horseback riding from Camilla Naprous and her team of horse trainers in England. Cage also worked with a fight choreographer to learn swordfighting. Perlman plays Felson, a knight who is Behmen's best friend and fellow combatant during the Crusades. Perlman said of choosing the role, "I love the character. I'm actually more comfortable being a sidekick, because I don't get blamed if it is a complete disaster. I really liked ... his mindset, I liked his irreverence. In the world of seriousness, he's a guy who thinks it's all bullshit. He's just in it for the whores and the sword fights." Perlman described Felson's religion, "Whereas Behmen has a very well-articulated idea of his relationship to country and church and spirituality and God, Felson has none. He doesn't bother to spend any time thinking about that." Foy appears in her feature-film debut as the young woman who is accused of being a witch. Known for her titular role in the British miniseries ''
Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...
'', she met Sena and sought the role in ''Season of the Witch''. She explained the choice, "It's quite a manipulative role. The character does a ''lot'' of manipulating, pitting other people against each other, being quite mischievous... That was something I thought would obviously be good to do". Foy researched witchcraft and
demonic possession Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and reli ...
for the role. She described its appeal, "Playing a character that was making things happen, and mainly in control of an entire group of men. And for once, be the character that is completely in the know about everything. There is nothing that she doesn't know. Nothing is a surprise. And she is able to deal with every single situation that arises the way that she sees fit. And I think that was quite refreshing to be able to play a character that wasn't entirely beholden to everyone else".


Visual effects

For ''Season of the Witch'',
Tippett Studio Tippett Studio is an American visual effects company specializing in computer-generated imagery (CGI) for films and television commercials. The studio has created visual effects and animations on over fifty feature films and commercials, garnerin ...
designed the demon that manifests in the film's denouement. The art directors researched woodcuts and other artwork for classic demonic appearances. The filmmakers requested an entity "lithe and feminine", and the visual effects crew designed a demon that had "cloven feet, a dog ankle, and a fawn leg". Designing visual effects for the demon's wings was the biggest challenge since wings tend to get in the way or do not move convincingly. The filmmakers also requested holes in the demon's wings. The crew designed holes that appeared worn instead of ripped, since ripped holes would require an added billowing effect. The demon was also designed to have dark gray skin, which presented the crew a challenge in the film's dark settings. Tippett's Blair Clark said, "We played the skin like a rotten mummy: nothing too moist, with a lot of wear marks on it". The crew's final visual effects shot was the death of the demon, and they researched previous films and terminology for how demons' deaths have been designed. They drew inspiration from ''
Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers ...
'' (2004), where they focused on the buildup to the demon's death. Clark said, "We built it over a series of shots so it doesn't just happen in one shot. We had little patches on the demon that start to crack and result in a glow that looks like it's burning from within".


Release

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
scheduled ''Season of the Witch'' to be released on March 19, 2010, but five weeks before the date, the studio decided to pull the film from release. Lionsgate originally had an output deal with
Relativity Media Relativity Media is an American media company founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The company brokered film finance deals and later branched into film production and other entertainment ventures. The company was commerciall ...
, but since Relativity had formed its own marketing and distribution arm in 2010, Relativity chose to release the film themselves and in October 2010 the film was pushed back a year from its original release date of March 19, 2010 to January 7, 2011. ''Season of the Witch'' was Relativity's first inhouse production. ''Season of the Witch'' in January 2010 had been rated PG-13 by the
Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
, citing "thematic elements, violence, and disturbing content". The studio edited the film and re-submitted it to the MPAA in November 2010 for a new rating. The MPAA gave the film the same rating and reason for it as before. The film had its world premiere in New York City on January 4, 2011. The film was released commercially on January 7, 2011 in several territories. Pre-release polling had indicated young men were the core demographic for the film, though more women than expected expressed interest in the film. Experts anticipated that the film would gross US$10–12 million on its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. The film was released in 2,816 theaters in the two territories. It grossed , ranking third at the box office after ''
True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...
'' and ''
Little Fockers ''Little Fockers'' (known as ''Meet the Parents: Little Fockers'' in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia) is a 2010 American comedy film and the third and final film in the ''Meet the Parents'' film series, serving as a sequel to ''Meet the Par ...
'', which were both released at the end of 2010. Relativity Media's exit polling showed that the audience was 52% male and that 61% were 25 years old and up. The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' reported that an "unusually high" 69% of the audience was nonwhite. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' noted that the racial diversity of ''Season of the Witch''s audiences was common for supernatural thrillers; the breakdown was 36% Hispanic, 31%
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...
, 14% Asian, 10% African-American, and 9% "other". The film was the second release by Relativity and performed better than its first release, ''
The Warrior's Way ''The Warrior's Way'' is a 2010 New Zealand-South Korean fantasy action film written and directed by Sngmoo Lee and starring Jang Dong-gun, Kate Bosworth, Geoffrey Rush, Danny Huston and Tony Cox. It was produced by Barrie Osborne, who also p ...
'' (2010). The opening weekend was not the lowest of Nicolas Cage's career to that point; it was better than ''
The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...
'' (2006), ''
Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...
'' (2007) and '' Bangkok Dangerous'' (2008).


Home media

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...
(under a new output license deal with Relativity) released the film on DVD and Blu-ray on , 2011.
20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
holds pay-per-view, on-demand, and television rights to this film under Fox's new deal with Relativity/Rogue.


Reception


Box office

''Season of the Witch'' grossed in the United States and Canada and in other territories for a worldwide total of .


Critical response

''Season of the Witch'' received mostly negative reviews. On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 11%, based on 125 reviews, with an average rating of 3.80/10. The site's consensus reads, "Slow, cheap-looking, and dull, ''Season of the Witch'' fails even as unintentional comedy".
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
film critic Christy Lemire called ''Season of the Witch'' "a supernatural action thriller that's never actually thrilling" and added that "the scenery is drab, the battles are interchangeable, and no one seems particularly interested in being here". According to the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', critics said that Cage was the primary reason that "this swords-and-sorcery romp is a collosal icwaste of time". Andrew Barker of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' said ''Season of the Witch'' was "both overblown and undercooked" and thought the film would have been more fun if it had a sense of humor. He called the film "too inert for midnight-movie schadenfreudists, and not nearly competent enough for even the most forgiving of fantasy fans". Of the film's production value, he said, "''Witch''s photography, costumes and production design are of good quality; editing, scoring and visual effects are most decidedly not". Tom Huddleston of ''
Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' wrote, "Despite its admirably straight face, ''Season of the Witch'' is a silly romp through
Pythonesque Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fou ...
medieval cliché and knockabout
Hammer horror Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic fiction, Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of thes ...
with a dash of cut-price
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawl ...
chucked in to keep things moving". Huddleston criticized Cage's performance but praised Perlman's. The critic concluded, "''Season of the Witch'' is not for everyone: it’s creaky, predictable and frequently idiotic. But for a tipsy Saturday night, this should tick all the right boxes". Writing for ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'',
Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...
described it as "like a cross between
Michael Reeves Michael Reeves (17 October 1943 – 11 February 1969) was an English film director and screenwriter. He is best remembered for the 1968 film ''Witchfinder General'' (known in the US as ''Conqueror Worm''). A few months after the film's rel ...
's brilliant ''
Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...
'' and
Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Hollywood and China. His best-known films include '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fai ...
's abysmal '' Exorcist: The Beginning'', with a fair (if unintentional) sprinkling of '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' thrown in for good measure... It's all utter balderdash from start to finish, with everyone sporting terrible period haircuts, and characters appearing and disappearing in a manner which suggests that the editors' minds were on other things; namely, the big finale which is, sadly, a bit rubbish". ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...
''s Andrew O'Hehir thought the film "resembles a Hollywood-by-way-of-Hungary remake of
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...
's ''
The Seventh Seal ''The Seventh Seal'' ( sv, Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of ch ...
'' filtered through the B-movie aesthetic of, say,
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
". O'Hehir wrote, "''Season of the Witch'' is an unremitting schlockfest, full of blood and filth, bloated, purulent corpses, ghastly one-eyed witches and undead monks. If there were more such Corman-esque thrills and chills, and a whole bunch less ponderous Bergman references, we'd all be better off". The film earned a
Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
nomination for Nicolas Cage as Worst Actor, but lost to
Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...
for ''
Jack and Jill "Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...
'' and ''
Just Go with It ''Just Go with It'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling, and produced by Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Heather Parry. It is a remake of the 1969 film '' Cactus Flower ...
''.


References


External links

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