The Wicked (2013) – Film Summary and Review

The Wicked is a straight-to-DVD indie horror movie that pits a handful of late teens against the terrible powers of a witch. The story is set in the small US town of Summerville, where stories of the witch—known locally as “The Wicked”—have been passed down through the generations. Witch hunters burned the rest of her coven, but she survived by eating children; the younger ones help sustain her youth and the older ones provide her with strength. Shades of Hansel and Gretel? Perhaps, but The Wicked is a much darker tale.

The Wicked is believed to inhabit an old deserted house out in the middle of the woods and the local kids have a tradition of sneaking out to the woods and throwing stones at it. If the stone hits the house they are safe, but if they should break a window “the Wicked will get them”. The movie begins by showing a very scared little girl. Her name is Amanda, she is tucked up in bed and clinging to her teddy bear for dear life. She and her friend sneaked out to the woods and threw stones at the house. Guess which one had a smashing time. If you guessed Amanda you guessed right and she is terrified. Her mom tries to calm her down of course, and reassures her there is nothing to worry about, but she is wrong because invisible forces throw open the bedroom window and a couple of scenes later Amanda’s mother is putting up missing posters.

The main characters in the movie are brothers, Zach and Max Reese (Justin Deeley and Devon Werkheiser) and their friends. The boys will be home alone for the weekend because their father has to go away on business, but he is worried about leaving his sons when a neighbour’s child (Amanda) has just been abducted. Zach is the eldest and his father instructs him to stay home at all times and keep an eye on his brother. Zach agrees to do so but finds it hard to keep his promise when his friends Carter (Chase Maser) and Tracy (Jackelyn Gauci) invite him to go on a camping trip. Zach wants to go but remains true to his responsibilities until Carter tells him the new girl in town, Julie (Jess Adams), will be going on the trip and is keen to get to know him better. Julie is extremely easy on the eye, and Zach is only human, so the double date under canvas is pretty much a done deal.

Max finds out about all of this from his best friend Sammy (Diana Hopper), who just happened to be lurking in the bushes during the planning of the camping trip. Sammy is the local tom-boy, has an alcoholic mother, and is in constant trouble with the local police. She is also one of the strongest characters in the movie, so right from the start it is easy to predict that she and Max will probably survive their encounter with the Wicked. It is also pretty easy to assume Carter and Tracy will end up becoming witch bait sooner rather than later.

Max isn’t happy about being deserted for the weekend, so he and Sammy decide to follow the others out to the woods. So while Zach and his friends travel by car, Max and Sammy take a cross-country shortcut on their bikes and when they arrive at the witch’s house the first thing they do is throw a couple of stones and one of them breaks a window. Zach and his gang have already been there and shattered some glass as well, so it looks like the Wicked is going to have a busy night.

The most unbelievable thing about this movie? The police officers who apparently smoke dope on duty and seem quite at ease with calling people “shit smear” and telling them to “shut your smelly dick hole”. If real police officers behaved like these guys the US of A would be in serious trouble, but it’s all good fun and it’s hard not to smile at some of the scenes that involve a police presence. The way Sammy and Officer Karl Bryant acknowledge each other with a single raised finger is especially amusing and Sammy is also responsible for one of the most memorable lines in the movie: “They think I’m a lesbian just because I don’t wear Prada or get a tit job.” “Are you?” Max asks. She is not and Max finds this out for himself, later in the movie, when his friend lets her hair down and challenges him to a game of tonsil hockey.

The Wicked may make some viewers jump in their seats from time to time, but it is unlikely to necessitate the need to sleep with the light on. Having said that, the scenes where the Wicked is putting her victims through a man-size mincer are rather icky; so it’s not exactly a popcorn-friendly movie, especially when she starts to chow down on bowls of intestines, but these scenes are few and far between and will seem pretty tame to anyone who is used to watching movies like Wrong Turn and House of 1000 Corpses.

The Wicked is a little predictable in places, but the special effects are more than adequate, the script is not too shabby, and the cast are surprisingly capable. The Wicked probably isn’t a movie that will compel viewers to watch it again and again, but neither is it likely to cause too many people to eject the disc in disgust before the end of the movie. It’s definitely one of the better indies and has a lot more going for it than some Hollywood-produced horror flicks.