Alessandro Capone’s Witch Story is a film that ultimately disappoints. Not entirely, but enough so that a person never really wants to see it again and once it is over, no thought is given to it. It is not a memorable movie, sadly, and it could have been, as the promise was there. Capone seemed to have a bit of a budget with this one, and he could have gone a little farther than he did, but played it safe and relied on tired tropes to bring it home.

It all begins in the past when a witch is burned alive at the stake, and fifty-plus years later, a brother and sister who have inherited the witch’s house arrive to take possession with a bunch of their teenage friends. Drinking, joking, flirting and so forth take place until a little girl ghost arrives on the scene, and soon enough, the women are being possessed and killing off their male counterparts until they, too, are killed off. Only Paul and Carol survive, discovering what has happened in the past and, with that knowledge, along with Father Matthew, look to put the final nail in the coffin of that long-dead witch.

From beginning to end, Capone takes his cues from other movies to build his narrative and that in itself is not a crime, as many directors do the same. Not everything can be original; someone is always going to lift something or be inspired by someone or take away a bit from here or there, and sometimes viewers may notice and sometimes they might not. Capone, who decided to rest upon clichés and tropes, ends up creating a very safe movie. Whether it be the characters, like the token black girl, the overweight guy who loves to eat, the hot girl or the nerdy guy, or situations where those in the house get themselves murdered by demonic ladies, everything feels familiar. Sometimes that works for the audience, because all someone wants is something they can enjoy without going too far out of the box. Others might want something original, and Capone offers little that one has not seen multiple times before.

There is some good stuff here too, such as the little ghost girl who shows up every now and then, heralding the bad things that are to come with her presence. The kills are also quite bloody, and for those looking to get a bit of a scare, this movie will deliver a few of them here and there. The movie as a whole may not be overly frightening, but there are some good scenes that make it worthwhile to check out. One has to give Capone credit for that, using his budget to good effect on the practical effects. The story might have lacked, but the horror was solid.

It ends as you might expect: a showdown between the dead witch and those left alive, and Capone almost gives it a happy ending, only to pull the rug out at the last second, as the best horror films tend to do. Nothing like a bit of shock and fright to wrap things up, as uneven, strange and routine as Witch Story turned out to be.

2.5 out of 5