The Wretched (2019) Review
A defiant teenage boy, struggling with his parent’s imminent divorce, faces off with a thousand year-old witch, who is living beneath the skin of and posing as the woman next door.
THE WRETCHED, originally entitled HAG, is essentially 1985’s FRIGHT NIGHT with a witch in place of a vampire as the next-door menace for a young lad who’s curiosity is piqued by the oddest things going under right under his nose. There’s nothing new here and perhaps that’s why a number of critics have been rather harsh in their appraisal of this supernatural flick. However writer/director team Brett and Drew T. Pierce (DEADHEADS) ensure that there’s enough happening to reach out and appeal to a wider audience than the teen-crowd it’s primarily aimed at.
John-Paul Howard nails the role of Ben, the young lad who notices something unusual next door, and he is ably supported by a likeable cast who all assist in making THE WRETCHED a welcome relief to the uptight, sombre offerings that the genre has offered up of late. It’s complemented by Devin Burrow’s score which is the most delightful concoction that ensures that the film’s playful tone is enhanced to the foreground.
Essentially a teen-friendly mix of the aforementioned FRIGHT NIGHT and William Friedkin’s 1990 flick THE GUARDIAN, THE WRETCHED may play too twee for hardcore horror fans but for this viewer it was a very welcome relief from the current horrors unfolding outside in the real-world. It’s pleasing to see that THE WRETCHED has topped the US box-office charts for three weeks during its limited release at American drive-in venues. It’s not aiming to be ‘deep’, it’s simply about providing Saturday night entertainment thrills and it pleasingly provides them in abundance.