Blu-Ray Review: Nicolas Cage Would Like You to Forget ‘Season of the Witch’

Submitted by BrianTT on July 12, 2011 - 12:10pm

CHICAGO – Dominic Sena’s “Season of the Witch” is one of the most bizarrely dull films made in a very long time. It doesn’t work even as escapist trash because the typically over-the-top Nicolas Cage can’t even bring his manic energy to the piece, choosing to sleep-walk through it instead. I was ready for a cheesy piece of period action but stunned at the tedious dialogue, boring action, and nonsensical plot. This thing is a mess and not even a fun one at that.

Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0

Cage and Ron Perlman play Teutonic Knights, men returned from the brutality of the Crusades to a land devastated by plague. As is common throughout history, the men in power blame the women who are not for the devastation. The film opens with the hanging of three witches, leading one to think that perhaps this is a feminist tale of the falsely accused, but that would be giving the film too much credit. Instead, it’s a pretty straightforward piece of work (at least until the ridiculous final act) in which the Knights must transport a girl (Claire Foy) who has been accused of being a witch. If they take the caged waif to a monastery, they can remove the curse she has surely placed on their land.

Season of the Witch
Photo credit: Fox

Even Nicolas Cage’s most notorious disasters usually have something interesting about them. Even junk like “Next,” “The Wicker Man,” and “Bangkok Dangerous” have personality that’s missing from this dull affair. And Cage can occasionally still deliver the quality goods such as his recent work in “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” and “Kick-Ass,” two of his best performances. Heck, I’d even take widely-dismissed films like “Knowing” and “Drive Angry” over this. And it seems clear that Cage would too. Rarely has an actor looked more bored than the Oscar winner does here. When the film is building to its climax and the CGI kicks in, you can practically see Cage check where his watch should be. If he doesn’t care, why should you?

Special Features:
o Deleted Scenes
o Becoming The Demon
o On A Crusade
o Alternate Ending
o Digital Copy Of Feature Film

“Season of the Witch” stars Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, and Claire Foy. It was directed by Dominic Sena. It was released by Fox on Blu-ray and DVD on June 28th, 2011.