Robert Eggers’ gorgeously creepy The Witch earned the distinction of being the first MovieNight feature to be “previewed” in a special Friday night presentation, the week before its “official” Thursday night screening. I still feel that it is somewhat misleading to call The Witch a horror movie, although I do understand the reasoning for doing so. To me it is more of an occult mystery drama. There are no sudden frights… you know that bad things are going to happen, and when they do, they are deeply disturbing. The casting was excellent, and the attention to period detail was acute… little wonder, since until this directorial debut, Mr. Eggers has been credited in other films as art director and costume designer.

Oh… and my favorite line in the movie? Satan’s words, voiced by Black Phillip, the goat, “Remove thy shift.” Good stuff.

More about this film on IMDb