WITCH CRAFTS

WITCH CRAFTS

Saturday, May 30, 2015

"THE SEVENTH SON" - ANOTHER WITCH MOVIE

Hi All,
As you know, I like to occasionally take a break from doll making and talk about witch movies I've seen.
I was at the movie rental place last weekend (yes, I still rent DVDs - I haven't learn how to download them yet), and saw this movie I missed in the theaters-- "THE SEVENTH SON". (It must have had a short run.)

It's your basic "Sword & Sorcery" movie (like the fantasy movies from the '80s) --- which, I LOVE. It takes place in olden times, where witches, dragons, and other mystical creatures roamed the earth, inflicting death and destruction on humans. It's based on the book, The Last Apprentice.

It stars Jeff Bridges as "Master Gregory", an old, cancerous knight who fights these evil creatures.

He's the original "seventh-son-of-a-seventh son" (which, for whatever reason, gives one the gift of bravery above mere mortals). He is refereed to as a "spook", which means "witch hunter".

And, here's the young, handsome hero, "Tom" (Ben Barns, who was "Prince Caspian" in the "Chronicles of Narnia").

He is Gregory's apprentice. He is also the seventh-son-of-a-seventh-son. But, he has another gift - his mother is a witch! (the good kind). This makes him a half-witch AND a seventh son! (multiple powers!)

And, it also stars Julianne Moore, who is the devilishly evil witch, "Mother Malkin".

Isn't she wonderful looking?

AND -- she morphs into a DRAGON! (When she's in human form, she still has her scorpion-like dragon tail.)

Well, turns out that long ago, (spoiler alert) Master Gregory and Mother Malkin were lovers! But, she turned evil, and he left her & married a mortal woman. Now, Mother Malkin is back, taking her revenge out on him and the rest of the humans! (Nothing like a lover scorned.....)

And, here is the pretty young heroin, "Alice". She's a half-witch as well. (Her mother is an evil witch, and sister to Mother Malkin.)

 But, we don't know if she is good or evil. Whose side is she on???

Well, naturally our hero, Tom, falls in love with her --- but, is it TRUE love???

So, witchy Julianne Moore gathers her evil witch friends, along with other assorted bad-ass characters (who all morph into some form of evil creature --- very cool), to wreck havoc on the village Jeff Bridges is protecting.

At the same time, Jeff Bridges is teaching young Tom the mystic ways of being a "spook" - so Tom can eventually take over the job for him (Jeff isn't getting any younger, ya' know?)

Well, evil is destroyed in the end, and love triumphs over all. -- But, it is a very cool fight to the finish, with lots of CGI effects!

Now, I'm not saying this is a great movie. (It might not even be a GOOD movie.) The plot is predicable, and the characters have little dimension. --But, it has great designs and art direction. And, for 3 bucks, it was a fun escape on a Sunday afternoon.
-Plus, it gave me more ideas for designing "evil-but-beautiful" witches!



3 comments:

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Love the witch hands in the last picture. Pure design inspiration!!

Northbrook Designs said...

And for sure Arley, you will create another masterpiece of a witch. Thank you for the review. And I'm like you, I rent or buy a dvd, if for nothing else but the costuming ideas.. ;o))

Stephanie said...

OOh! Love these movies. Have you seen Hanzel and Gretel? It is one of the worst movies but the evil witches are Spectacular!!!!