THE LOVE WITCH: A return to the past in a refreshed, subversive form

Just thirty seconds into the film, it becomes clear what its strongest point will be. The visual presentation immediately takes your breath away, while also reminding us why so many bad movies can still be watched with passion and engagement. Technicolor. This technique, which has existed since the 1920s, made many films almost excessively saturated with colors, something eagerly used in animations, musicals, and costume dramas, but also in horror films. Some of the best examples include “Mystery of the Wax Museum” (1933, one of the first), “Peeping Tom” (1960), Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, and Dario Argento’s “Suspiria” (one of the last). Modern productions, of course, allow for much more realism, but who needs realism? We need magic! And “The Love Witch” delivers it in every possible way.

From the beginning, Hollywood knew that the female body could help sell tickets, so in the Technicolor era, it was displayed even more boldly. The pinnacle of this trend came in 1953 with three films that made Marilyn Monroe a household name: “Niagara”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, and “How to Marry a Millionaire”. In “The Love Witch”, femininity is also a key element, but the creators of niche productions don’t have to cater to the expectations of the mass audience. They can force traditional formulas to serve their individual visions. In this case, the visionary is a woman—director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and composer Anna Biller. This alone offers a perspective that was unheard of fifty years ago.

In her vision, the titular love witch is a powerful, confident figure who suffers from loneliness, not because she’s destined for submission, but because she’s searching for a partner to conquer the world with. There’s not a trace of ideological or gender warfare in this; it’s simply a different and very interesting approach.

Let’s go back to those first thirty seconds of the film, which reveal a lot about it. The draw isn’t just the Technicolor, but also the “driving” scene with a projected backdrop, the musical score performed by “live” instruments, the retro-styled font for the title, and the heavy makeup of the main character. “The Love Witch” doesn’t just look like it’s from a past era, its story actually takes place in that era. The most impressive aspect, however, is the room where the witch Elaine resides. Mandalas, candleholders, mystical paintings, ornate lampshades, a shelf full of colorful bottles, a starry curtain, wooden doors with stained glass—there’s no need to guess what the person living in such a place does; every corner radiates magical power.

The plot doesn’t always match the visual perfection. The two-hour film could easily be trimmed by thirty minutes, but even the slower moments are presented so beautifully that it’s hard to look away. For fans of occult horror, and especially for enthusiasts of sexploitation films in the vein of Russ Meyer, “The Love Witch” will be a fascinating return to the past in a refreshed, subversive form.

Anna Biller clearly conveys her message—sexual freedom for everyone. She also shows how tragically things can end when men try to control women’s behavior or even thoughts, but she manages to avoid heavy-handed indoctrination, leaving behind an intriguing story that can be enjoyed either with an awareness of its message or as a purely entertaining viewing experience.