X
- 2014
- Not Rated
- IFC Midnight
- 1 h 52 m
- 2014
- Not Rated
- IFC Midnight
- 1 h 52 m
Summary When their bank heist doesn’t go according to plan, José and Tony find themselves in possession of hostages and speeding through the mountains of Spain, hoping to quietly slip over the border. Not wanting to give up his custody days to his ex-wife, José has also brought his son along, for both the robbery and the ride. Little do they kno...
Directed By: Álex de la Iglesia
Written By: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia
- 2014
- Not Rated
- IFC Midnight
- 1 h 52 m
- 2014
- Not Rated
- IFC Midnight
- 1 h 52 m
Witching and Bitching
73
5.4
Where to Watch
Summary When their bank heist doesn’t go according to plan, José and Tony find themselves in possession of hostages and speeding through the mountains of Spain, hoping to quietly slip over the border. Not wanting to give up his custody days to his ex-wife, José has also brought his son along, for both the robbery and the ride. Little do they kno...
Directed By: Álex de la Iglesia
Written By: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
73
90% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
10% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
73
90% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
10% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It's ludicrous genre fun even if you didn't take into account the properly-bewitching Ms. Bang.
Witching and Bitching is accordingly overlong, and conceptually thin. But like most of de la Iglesia's films, it's also freakishly energetic, and often hysterical.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 User Ratings
5.4
37% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
37% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
26% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 User Ratings
5.4
37% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
37% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
26% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
TL;DR - This film was an absolute blast of an experience with a relatively simple plot i.e, a bunch of thieves running into a powerful coven of witches. The movie has sharp wit, quick and surprisingly funny dialogue writing you may miss if you are not paying full attention, twisted and interesting character writing held up by amazing performances.
The Good
In the politically correct times of today this movie could be seen as fuel to fire for all the negativity that is usually related to gender politics.
Even so the confused and misogynistic thieves running into a bunch of fanatic-feminist witches is just the right balance of twisted and horrific experience for both sides as nobody comes out unscathed by the end, all this with a healthy dose of satire and comedy which is just the icing on the cake. Special mention to all the actors for pulling off such razor sharp dialogues and maintaining a believable human element in the face of what would be considered offensive content if taken in it's literal sense and not the satirical.
The pacing of the film is almost on the level of artistic editing since I can very easily see the flow of the story either boring you or just annoying you if it was paced or edited in the wrong way.
The Bad
Pure nitpick territory since I enjoyed the film so much, some of the VFX were a little janky during the climax. But this is really nitpicky since more than 3/4th of the film's VFX were really well done bringing proper horror to the scenes where it was needed. Maybe a bigger role for Macarena Gomez who I liked in Dagon as well but even there she had a very small role, however this is very subjective since I enjoyed her performance and left me wanting more.
This movie was funny, twisted, action packed, horrific and a unique experience that a lot of films seem to forget now-a-days. Must watch, essential viewing for horror comedy fans.
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Witching & ****
When it comes to talk about witches and craft, I recall one movie “The Craft”. As for me, it is one of the most striking films about witches. But lately I watched another one.
"The Witches of Zugarramurdi" (also known as “Witching&****”) is a Spanish comedy horror film, made in 2013 by Alex de la Iglesia. It stars Hugo Silva, Mario Casas and Carmen Maura.
It opens by a robbery which was pondered by two street artists Jose and Tony. The robbery does not go as well as they thought it would. Nevertheless, they manage to steal a bag of golden rings and successfully run from police. Moreover, a taxi driver, who was their hostage and drove them away from the crime scene, becomes their confederate.
Thus, the beginning of the film is full of action, chases and sparkling dialogues. The singularity of the situation is that Jose has brought his son Sergio and he becomes involved into the crime and all consequences of it. Due to Sergio, his mother, who is followed by police, manages to figure out their whereabouts.
The company ends up in the Navarrese town in Zugarramurdi, which is known as witch's town since Medieval times. They meet cannibalistic witches face to face. It goes without saying, that their only aim is to run away from that place, but it is not so easy.
The plot is evolving rapidly and including a lot of supernatural and terrifying action. Some of scenes were absolutely horrific. But I really like the movie though.
Also, to my opinion, the plot of the film has similarities with “From dusk till dawn”. Bad guys are running from police and end up in a strange place facing supernatural creatures.
Anyway, "The Witches of Zugarramurdi" is a good film.
It won the most awards at the 28th Goya Awards with eight wins out of ten nominations, so it is one of the greatest Spanish movies in new century.
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De la Iglesia’s knack for offending audiences while showing them a good time is stronger than ever: Witching and Bitching isn’t much on substance or logic, but man, is it fun.
It’s the best Almodovar movie Almodovar never made, a riotous, gory farce that might be the funniest movie of the summer, and surely is the coolest.
Known for his genre pastiches, the director, Álex de la Iglesia (“El Crimen Perfecto”), rarely lets the pace flag, and the buddy comedy, gross-out humor and horror elements make for a harmonious mix.
Álex de la Iglesia has a real flair for wild action sequences that remain exhilaratingly coherent and sensical.
Witching and Bitching -- though perhaps a bit overlong, and prone to meandering -- is unapologetic about what it is: a crazy, just-for-fun film that revels in its own bad taste.
A Spanish horror-comedy in which a group of bank-robbers stumble into a witch coven. Hijinks ensue, comedy is had. The theme of this one is about how the robbers (all men) have woman issues and have all but renounced their kind as villainous, deceptive and **** (*cough* witchy--get it?) The witch coven has done the same thing (there are no warlocks; though one witch has a son she keeps locked up in an underground vault).
Some lessons are not really learned, and there's a hulking monster witch with enormous boobs at the end the men have to contend with (one woman takes their side, alas). There's definitely some fun to be had here but it's fleeting and I'm not sure it's anywhere near as progressive as it thinks it is (if it does, I don't know).
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Las brujas de Zugarramurdi es din duda la película mas floja de todas las que he visto de Álex de la Iglésia. Lo mejor son los primeros 40 minutos, con un toque cómico bastante acertado. Y lo peor el resto, con un tramo final que hecha a perder todo lo bueno del principio. La esperaba mejor pero tampoco es un fracaso.
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Production Company
Enrique Cerezo Producciones Cinematográficas S.A.,
La Ferme! Productions,
Arte France Cinéma,
Televisión Española (TVE),
TeleMadrid,
Canal+ España
Release Date Jun 13, 2014
Duration 1 h 52 m
Rating Not Rated
Tagline Shamelessly crowd-pleasing... a pure mayhem!
Awards
Goya Awards
• 8 Wins & 10 Nominations
Feroz Awards, ES
• 2 Wins & 7 Nominations
CinEuphoria Awards
• 7 Nominations
