Something Wicked (2014) User Reviews

Something interesting.

[Patient444 · 5/10 · 19 March 2015]

You know that feeling, when it's just pouring outside, you are in no mood for anything but a movie, most likely a horror, something not too easy, not too hard, that will go along perfectly with a beer and some chips? You might hit jackpot with this one.

So is it really that good? Well, no, but it is a fun ride, made with a tight budget, good actors, a better plot than most and some decent kills. It's just one of those movies that you won't desire to replay but you do wish for at a certain point, if we were a few years back, it would be the perfect thing on TV at that exact moment when you were ready for something to fill in the time. So, if you can relate to what I'm saying, I think you'll enjoy this one.

Now all you have to do is grab yourself a beer, some chips and wait to rain. Let the movie wait, it needs a good environment to be played in.

Cheers!

Brittany Murphy deserved a better swan song!

[Hellmant · 5/10 · 16 April 2014]

'SOMETHING WICKED': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

This ultra-low budget horror flick will probably be most well known as being Brittany Murphy's last film. It was also shot entirely in Eugene, OR (in April of 2009 through June of that same year; just months before Murphy's death in December), and made on a budget of just $3 million! It's finally being released (five years later) and it wasn't worth the wait. I had no idea that Murphy's career had hit such a low; that she was resorting to doing supporting roles in really bad B slasher flicks (and she, like the rest of the cast, is pretty terrible in the movie). Like almost all fright flicks it does have it's pluses too though and the ending is killer (even if the rest of the movie is painful to watch).

Shantel VanSanten stars as Christine, a young college student who was just admitted to 'Oregon University' in Eugene (I'm assuming they mean University of Oregon). John Robinson costars as her fiancé James, who makes a living working at a local sawmill. As the film opens James asks Christine's parents (Betty Moyer and Lance Rosen) for their blessing to wed their daughter. They say the young couple must wait until Christine is done with school (which really upsets James and Christine). Then while James (being the designated driver) is driving them all home, from dinner, their car is struck by a train and Christine's mother and father are killed. The story then flashes forward multiple months when Christine is now attending school (as planned) and being stalked and terrorized by someone. Could it be another student, her obsessive police officer brother Bill (James Patrick Stuart) or Christine's parents back from the grave (making sure she follows their wishes). Murphy plays Bill's wife and Christine is now living with the couple as well.

The flick was directed by Darin Scott (who's directed a few other micro budget slasher films, like 'DARK HOUSE' and 'CAUGHT UP') and written by Joe Colleran and Joseph Mungra (the two also collaborated on the film 'THE American GANDHI'). It does seem like it was made by people with little to no experience (in making movies) and felt awfully amateurish (almost like a Syfy Network flick). I did really dig the ending though and although VanSanten sucks most of the movie she is memorable in the film's climax (and sexy throughout, especially the ending). I have to give the movie some credit since it was accomplished on such a low budget and filmed in my home state of Oregon (it also features a cameo by a friend of mine, Broderick Boyd, as a valet). It is a bad film but it's not horrible. Brittany Murphy was a much better actress than this though and she deserved a better swan song.

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcnKD6oDiBo

Not bad

[mjsreg · 5/10 · 3 April 2015]

I am surprised that some of the reviews are so damning of this film.

OK - its not a classic, but it isn't absolutely dire either.

The storyline is excellent and you never know what the whole story is until right at the end - which was something I didn't really expect until the last 5 or 10 minutes.

It is worth watching provided you don't have any expectations.

The only thing I didn't like about the film was the casting of John Robinson in the key male role. He is too effeminate to be credible. The role needed someone who could play the age but also have something interesting about them. He was just bland from start to finish.

Embarrassing

[lnvicta · 3/10 · 16 July 2015]

The whole "stalker killer" angle in horror movies has been done to death, which is essentially what Something Wicked is. Except this movie tries to be different - so different in fact that the plot is the most convoluted, messy piece of crap I've seen in a while, and just about everything in the movie meant to imbue scares or intrigue fails on every single level.

There's nothing positive I can say about this movie. The acting was alright I guess, and it's nice seeing James Patrick Stuart (Dick Roman from Supernatural) take the spotlight for a bit, but everything else is unbelievably terrible. The script is so disjointed and makes no sense, the directing is atrocious, the pacing is awkward and makes the movie seem even more confusing than it already is. It tries to combine the supernatural with paranoia, stalker, and mystery elements. The only one it did well was mystery because it's a mystery how this garbage was allowed to be made in the first place.

I feel it deserves a lower score because I kept hoping it would redeem itself by the end and it only got worse and worse. I guess it's a testament to the writing for keeping me invested throughout the whole thing, even if it was an enormous disappointment. Honestly though, no one needs to see this movie. It's a Frankenstein of a movie - pieces of different genres incoherently mashed together creating a disaster of a "horror" film.

Stay far away; this movie is indeed something wicked.

Not worth the time, sadly...

[First_Name_Last_Name · 17 March 2015]

I must sadly warn my fellow horror/thriller fans to keep away from this release. If you are looking for a good and scary time filled with suspense you will be disappointed. It is actually impossible to even accept the basic setup for several reasons. While the cinematography is arguably one notch over a passable High School project, everything else pulls the movie down into an amateur ditch – it sinks even lower than many of the other unfortunate horror-releases of newer time. The direction is awful and the acting is really quite terrible. The script problems are obvious and nothing has been done to attempt to fix cringe-worthy plot holes. It really makes no sense. The movie is also full of hand-me-down elements from many previous horror movies, and it does a remarkably terrible job copying them. Something Wicked boils down to an unengaging experience due to the general poor quality, and it is not worth neither time nor money. It is particularly sad to see the last rolls of film of the late Brittany Murphy, which, without a doubt, was the only reason that this was ever released. Murphy looks tired, strung out – and it can be argued that it is in poor taste to publish this unfinished and confused nonsense in her wake. I think this movie is cursed. If this is the case it may be a good horror movie after all. But it is still a three... Stay clear of this release, friends!

Terrible, dumb story and plot

[mikebrunton70 · 3/10 · 8 May 2015]

What was this movie ? Was it a horror film ? A thriller ? Honestly, it took me a lot of time to get to the end of this. One of those movies which by the end is so ridiculous and contrived you feel cheated. A woman who is scared by being stalked, but actually has some long involved plan to get revenge on her boyfriend, who tried to kill them and her parents, but luckily for them, just the parents die ! So she waits until they get married to finally kill him. But honestly, there was so little going on, except confusing story lines, a sister who is also neurotic, a brother or in law who is a peeping tom/obsessive, blah, blah, blah. All these weird characters do and acting like weird. This movie should be avoided by anyone who doesn't like wasting time. It is just awful. I kept hoping something would make sense, the ending is utterly ridiculous.

Who dun wot?

[begob · 4/10 · 18 March 2015]

Strange case of messing up the story to hide the reveal.

The first half of this feels like three different stories. None of the characters is likable. The shape of things only comes clear in the end, but it just left me wondering why, WHY? I tried to think of a logline for the movie, but every angle makes me puzzle over what they were trying to do.

Plenty of Shakespeare references, so maybe I missed something, but it looks like an effort to spread maximum confusion and make sure the revenge ending wouldn't be given away too early.

On top of that there's a hard element of cheese with the mid-western rock music and lumber mill raw honesty. Plus a hint of the supernatural. And what's with the "successful publishing business"? Random.

Total mess. And a sad ending for Brittany Murphy and her lips.

Something wicked is something stupid

[steviegjd · 3/10 · 19 September 2014]

This is a bad movie. It took years to get released and there is a reason for this. It is truly bad. The acting is terrible. Everyone in it is truly bad. It is filmed like a cable movie. Both the direction and cinematography are amateurish. Even the editing looks like something out of "The Room," which is the movie this most reminded me of. But where "The Room" became a midnight movie laugh fest, one which its creator now insists was intended to be a dark comedy, "Something Wicked" takes itself very seriously. Which makes it all the worse when you are laughing out loud at how bad it is. The only thing redeeming is the ending - and it is not worth the trouble of sitting through this piece of junk.

I want my time back

[whufc1980 · 1/10 · 20 March 2015]

The best part of the film was the end credits, as it meant the film was finished. I cannot even sum up the energy to describe this tedious offering. The characters were really annoying, the twists were totally ridiculous. there that's all it deserves.

***********serious spoiler alert****************************

Here is an example annoying punchable boyfriend wants to get his own back on the parents for not letting him marry extremely irritating girlfriend. I know, he has a plan, he will risk death or serious injury by reversing into a moving train. That sums up the waste of celluloid this was.

Horror, yeah right

Walks the line between made-for-TV movie and first-rate thriller; irresistibly fun

[drownsoda90 · 7/10 · 14 April 2014]

I have a soft spot for B-horror films— it's not just that I am usually very entertained by them, but I really just find them charming. Maybe I have an underdog complex. Regardless, I'm not even sure why I am dispensing this information, because I don't know if I can classify "Something Wicked" as a B-movie completely, given the relatively high production values and moderately well-known cast (including the late and great Brittany Murphy). Even if "Something Wicked" isn't a B-movie entirely, it feels like one, and works within this framework. The plot follows a young woman, Christine (Shantel VanSanten) who loses her parents in an accident; she survives, however, as does her boyfriend, James (John Robinson). Christine moves in with her older brother, Bill (James Patrick Stuart), a local cop, and his wife, psychologist Susan (Brittany Murphy), and attends the local university. She and James begin to plan a future together beginning with a marriage, but Christine begins experiencing personal attacks and believes herself to be haunted by demons of the past and stalked by a real-life attacker. Where does Christine's truth lie?

It is without question that the main reason "Something Wicked" is even seeing the light of day at Regal Cinemas right now is because it marks Brittany Murphy's final performance before her untimely death. Had Murphy not passed away, the film would likely have been relegated to the land of straight-to-DVD Redbox specials, but it is currently having an extremely limited theatrical run in the Pacific Northwest, and is one of the few indie films to surface in quite some time from my beautiful home state of Oregon (it was filmed in Eugene, a college town about three hours south of Portland, where I am from). And you know what? I'm glad the film is playing in a mainstream cinema, no matter how limited. It's just a shame that it took Murphy's death to get it there.

The reasons behind the film's delay are ambiguous (it was filmed in 2009), but regardless, what we have here is a no-holds-barred indie horror thriller that is not quite serious enough to be taken at face value, but classy enough that it cannot be dismissed by genre fans. The script plays with genre setups and conventions galore, but they don't appear as clichés because the film refuses to let them be— it walks the line between a made-for-TV movie and a first-rate thriller, which is bizarre, but also extremely absorbing for people who are into this kind of thing. As someone who watches these films all the time, I should have seen the plot twists coming, but I didn't— the script quickly throws the audience into a disorienting snake pit of red-herrings and spends the rest of its time clawing its way out to the conclusion. The performances in the film are also worth taking note of; Shantel VanSanten leads the film and is vulnerable and believable, paired with John Robinson ("Elephant") as her husband-to-be. James Patrick Stewart plays her (perhaps too) protective cop brother quite believably, and Julian Morris ("Cry_Wolf") appears as the ominous and sexy stalker boy on campus— and then of course there is Murphy, who is completely alive and engaging in all of her scenes, her range oscillating between upper-class psychologist and prescription-addled madwoman.

All this said, I don't know who the audience for "Something Wicked" is, as it's not flashy enough to attract a mainstream horror audience, and it is not something that has enough draw for the general public either. It perhaps has a niche market of diehards and B-horror fans like myself, as well as those who are ardent fans of Murphy's and want to see her last hurrah. At its heart, "Something Wicked" is nothing more than a self-aware indie horror flick with a series of twists and turns that aren't particularly profound, but I'll be damned if they don't make for an enjoyable and entertaining ninety minutes. If Murphy's untimely death gave us anything, it was the chance for an earnest and underrepresented indie horror film such as this to see the light of day— no matter how small or large that may be. 7/10.

3 for the story... the rest is not worth a glance

[dejan-kocon · 3/10 · 18 April 2015]

Do you sometimes get thew feeling after a few scenes this is going to be a letdown of a movie?

Well this one is. The plot is predictable, the acting is so bad you can almost smell through the screen how rotten it is at moments, story not at all logical and connected. Like the movie was rushed for some reason.

You get quite many moments when you ask yourself "What????" and not in a good way. Nothing seems to fit although you know what will happen watching the first 30 minutes.

Not a tribute to Murphy... The rest of her movies were pretty watchable... well just not the way to go. Wish it did not make the movie theaters, honestly.

Better Than It's Rating

[isantistao · 9/10 · 2 August 2021]

I can't understand the low ratings for this movie. There is literally nothing wrong with it that would merit taking any points away what so ever. This is a great movie. Great writing and acting. And it's brittany murphys last movie and a great role for her. This movie deserves better.

Only Here For Murphy.

[gab-67599 · 6/10 · 19 October 2021]

This being Brittany's last movie I had to see it and finally did on Soap2day.cx. This felt a lot like a Lifetime movie the way their story goes. The end was odd and they made you think it was based on a true story. I am standoffish about this movie because it was enjoyable but some parts made you roll your eyes. It was good to past time or a one time viewing, but not more then that. I loved Brittany Murphy's acting abilities and she is sorely missed that is for sure!

I read another review that said this was not one of Murphy's best movies and what ppl forget is she just loved to act! Weather it be in a box office hit or just a low budget. If any true fan has seen all her work like I have you would know that not all her movies were "Note Worthy". IF I could act, not all mine would sail either, I am sure of that. This movies was better than Abandoned or in my opinion Across The Hall.

Forgettable.

[filipemanuelneto · 3/10 · 11 August 2021]

I decided to see this film not because it was the last of Brittany Murphy's - unfortunately short - career, but rather because I was an appreciator of horror in general. However, I wasn't surprised by what I found: another cheap film, with all the faults of the genre, but at least capable of entertaining us for a while.

The film begins with a couple who try, after a terrible accident that kills her parents, to move their relationship forward and prepare for their wedding. It turns out that, as the date approaches and all the preparations are made, the bride begins to feel that she is being chased by something, or someone, and that she is in danger.

The film is unremarkable, has a very worn script and doesn't bring anything new. The feeling is that we've seen the same thing, much better, before. The most usual horror clichés are also very present. The ending is pretty good, but I'm not sure if it's really worth the effort to see the rest of the movie. It will never be a memorable film, but if we want a film that entertains us for a while without having to think too hard, I think it meets the requirements. Darin Scott's direction is erratic and boring, and the script by Joe Colleran and Joseph Mungra is basic and uninteresting.

Shantel VanSanten is the protagonist in the role of the young bride. She's beautiful, she's sexy, but she's not particularly remarkable or has shown any remarkable talent, just doing what really needs to be done. It may be little, but it was what she needed to shine in this movie. Brittany Murphy, far from the heyday of her career, hit rock bottom here, with a minor role in a forgettable movie. And while it's not a film cut out for male actors to stand out, I think John Robinson and James Patrick Stuart did a satisfying job and are good additions to the cast.

Technically, it's a film that has very little to present to us. Being a low-budget film, there are no great effects or cinematic gimmicks here, nor an amazing soundtrack. Nothing. Cinematography, which would perhaps be the technical aspect with the greatest propensity to stand out, is tiring, uninteresting and does not bring anything really good or worthy of note.

Do not waste your time, I repeat do not waste your time!!

[silvertongue-44832 · 1/10 · 25 December 2020]

My experience while watching this movie was awful and confusing as well. The writer couldn't decide which genre this circus was belonging to.

Pretty Stupid

[rotini-52586 · 1/10 · 28 January 2021]

Shantels' body was the only descent thing in the movie

One or two good twists and a big lie by omission fuel this suspense thriller

[ersinkdotcom · 7/10 · 30 March 2015]

Arc Entertainment serves up another slice of thrills and chills with the suspense thriller "Something Wicked." Touted as Brittany Murphy's last performance, it delivers through deliberate psychological missteps and a lingering dark sense of dread that leaves the viewer wondering if all is what it seems. Although it's not quite up to par with most theatrical releases, it deserves a status a few notches above the Lifetime and TV-movies category it will no doubt be lumped into.

In "Something Wicked," a young couple makes their wedding plans shortly after the death of the bride's parents in a tragic car collision with a train. As they settle into married life, gruesome secrets from their past collide with the present.

"Something Wicked" achieves what all movies should aim for. It gives audiences a distraction from real life for over ninety minutes through a series of ups and downs and loops and sharp turns that any fan of suspense thrillers will enjoy. I had my suspicions of what might happen in the end, but it didn't affect the level of entertainment I experienced along the journey.

"Something Wicked" is rated R for violence, sexuality, and language. Although there are a few sensual moments that get a little steamier than what we see in made-for-TV movies, that's really the only thing that would push this into R-rated territory. Things never go overboard in the areas of violence and gore.

Brittany Murphy shows great emotional depth as the tortured sister- in-law of the lead character. She switches from grounded psychologist to a helpless, crazed, and empathetic shell with the sense of professionalism you would only hope for in a much more seasoned actor. I don't know whether it was for the role or not, but her greasy slick-backed hair and pale features matched her character's agonized and mentally drained personality.

"Something Wicked" is the equivalent of a Lifetime movie if production and the budget were taken one step further. One or two good twists and a big lie by omission fuel this suspense thriller. A cast who are invested in their characters lends a level of quality to a film that successfully rises above what could have been just another direct-to-DVD casualty. It acts as an acceptable tribute to the late Brittany Murphy, who turns out a fine performance in her last role.

Britt lives on

[pecorini · 9/10 · 7 February 2018]

Please, do not hate on this movie - it caps off Britt's amazing career, so show it some respect. She was a beautiful , if profoundly troubled, soul. RIP Britt, you are beautiful.

the brief life of Brittany Murphy

[inquirebot · 6/10 · 17 April 2015]

An average film overall, but important in the brief career of Brittany Murphy. The cinematography was excellent, particularly the helicopter footage. I also enjoyed the soundtrack. Character development was interesting and suspenseful. Brittany looks pretty ghastly in some scenes – I'm guessing makeup did the best they could given her declining health.

I think post production treated Brittany shabbily in the second to the last scene where she picks up the young daughter. Step-frame mode reveals some shameless hack painted in an obviously fake right aureole. So poorly done and exploitative, those responsible should be ashamed of themselves. If the movie is ever re-released, the audience would appreciate seeing the original footage of this marvelous actor.

SO FOUL AND FAIR A DAY I HAVE NOT SEEN

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 29 November 2018]

The film opens with a car being hit by a train while a scarecrow watches. It then flashes back to one hour earlier, then 10 minutes later it brings us up to the same point, making this flashback rather useless, other than to set up a flashback near the end.

Christine (Shantel VanSanten) is going to go to Oregon University. Unfortunately her parents were killed in said train accident with her boyfriend behind the wheel. An incident at Oregon U. involving being pushed into the pool turns into a who-dun-it before the first killing.

Suspects:

Christine is not mentally well and may be hallucinating or have a split personality.

James (John Robinson) is her mill worker boy friend. He doesn't want her to go to college in fear of losing her to some rich frat boy.

Bill (James Patrick Stuart) is her creepy uncle who spies on her, even while in the bathroom getting dressed. Apparently Eric Roberts was too busy doing cameo roles to accept this part.

Susan (Brittany Murphy) is Bill's wife who can't have children. She is a confidant to Christine, but has her own mental issues.

Ryan (Julian Morris) is the creepy son of the mill owner (Robert Blanche) who dreams about having sex with Christine...and sawing his missing mother at the mill.

The film drops clues. In fact it is inundated with clues, but leaves out one important piece of information for the clues to make sense. This comes at the very end as a way to say, "see how clever we are?" The problem was not the clever script, but how it was presented in a non-entertaining fashion. The dialogue was boring. The characters were stock. More akin to a Lifetime film than a horror flick.

The title does indeed come from the phrase "Something wicked this way comes," but that title was already taken and this film had nothing to do with that one.

Guide: F-bomb. Near sex. Butt nudity with thong.

SCENE SPOILER: In one scene Christine leaves a shower and her clothes are missing. She has a towel wrapped around her. She gets pushed in the pool. The towel stays wrapped around her, even as she climbs out of the pool. As she leaves, she is clearly wearing panties as the panty line shows through the wet towel and we can also see them from the front. She was taking a shower, I assume naked and not wearing panties. Her clothes were stolen...I think you know where I am going with this.

Enjoyable popcorn flick

[andyjack55-970-737382 · 10/10 · 5 September 2014]

This is a solid fun hour and a half at the movies. I would compare it to THE PURGE in that neither film was Oscar-worthy but they were both entertaining enough that I stopped stressing about life and just watched some dumb fun unfold on the screen. Will I think about this movie next year and ponder life's mysteries? No. But sometimes you want to shut your mind off when you watch movies. I am sure that explains how TRANSFORMERS makes a bajillion dollars.

I initially saw this because of Brittany Murphy but I really liked the lead actress Shantel Van Saten even more and have become a fan. I even watched a boring cop show on Fox because of her. She's very good, and gorgeous, but her looks are deceiving. The male lead who plays her fiancé is whiny but the character is supposed to be. He was my least favorite. I remember him ruining every scene he was in in LORDS OF DOGTOWN and he does it again. Most of his scenes are with Shantel and she makes up for them.

Brittany has a pretty good role as Shantel's sister and her character is kind, nurturing and sweet. It will make you miss her even more. RIP, brittany. The movie starts out a little slow slow start but be patient. The climax is excellent and has great twists. You will seriously gasp at the end LOL.

Alfred Hitchcock himself couldn't have built the suspense better.

[imdb-936-837144 · 10/10 · 8 April 2014]

Christine Webb (Shantel VanSanten) is recovering from the shock of her parents' tragic demise a year ago and is now enrolled in Oregon Universtiy--stand-in for University of Oregon (UO). She is living with her older brother Bill (James Patrick Stuart) who is a state policeman, and his wife Dr. Susan Webb (Brittany Murphy), some kind of clinical psychologist. She seems to have forgiven her boyfriend James (John Robinson) who was driving when the train hit their stalled vehicle, though how someone who is handy with the machinery at the mill and who drives a motorcycle can't avoid a train or see it coming is beyond me. At any rate they are like to get engaged now that the impediment of her parents' objection is removed, and they have a nice secluded honeymoon cottage all picked out.

This is not an ideal picture. Christine is being stalked by a mysterious hooded character for unknown reasons and she thinks her dead mom is leaving cryptic messages for her from Shakespeare to warn her away from James. Even though she's living with a (state) cop, she goes to campus security and they call in the city police (UO security has since become a regular police force.) Add to that the County Sheriff patrolling their honeymoon cottage, and you'd think she's covered, but they are long on police and short on security, if you get my drift.

Being familiar with the campus and city and region where this film was made does not help quell my misgivings. Just the opposite. Christine's parents are buried in the Pioneer Cemetery adjacent to campus and is at the nexus of several locations in the film: the classroom where the authorities have a word with a student, the building housing the swimming pool where Christine gets caught undressed, the statue of the pioneer mother (another dead woman watching over us), campus security headquarters, and the student housing office. I mean, if the film crew had an extra long extension cord, they wouldn't even have had to unplug going from one location to another.

What really got me, though, is when Susan drops her daughter off at preschool, she doesn't leave her at the preschool building which is on the southwest corner of the cemetery but at the psychology building on the northeast corner of the graveyard. There are some deep psychological problems hinted at, but locals may think they're looking in the wrong quarter.

"Something Wicked" builds up the suspense with the camera slinking around to suspenseful background music until something wicked jumps out at us. This movie puts me in mind of Alfred Hitchcock, so masterfully is it done. The pacing is perfect and the sets oh so innocent looking. Brittany Murphy was the outstanding actress, though hers was not the lead part. Events just moved all the rest of them along as they did us.

I was utterly surprised by how good this film was and am giving it a ten out of ten. I've detailed various local insights on my personal web page at http://www.bibles.n7nz.org/movies/stwicked.htm

Feeling good watching a film on a cold rainy night.

[aocsincher · 10/10 · 2 May 2020]

I didn't think it would be too hard during this movie, but the longer you watch the more you begin to feel "when is it going to happen"? The scene in the pool made it all worth while and then it got hard and lasted the rest of the movie...it (suspense) kept building until the final bow out happened.