Pyewacket (2017) User Reviews

A Decent Little Horror Movie

[jonsefcik · 6/10 · 21 September 2018]

I finally got a chance to check this movie out, and I feel I should say something level-headed given the mixed reviews. Lots of 10/10 and 1/10 reviews without much in the middle. I've seen my fair share of horror films, from masterpieces like The Shining and Rosemary's Baby, to camp like the Leprechaun series and Death Bed: The Bed That Eats. For a small independent production, I think this was a decent little horror movie, albeit with many flaws. Here's the good and bad:

The Good: The acting was pretty good overall. I appreciate how this movie didn't stoop to any cheap tricks to scare the audience. There are no jump scares (except for one edit that could debatably be called a fake out). It showed a surprising amount of restraint, relying on a slow escalation of events to build suspense. By not showing much, it makes your imagination run wild, and that's what makes it scary. If anything, I actually wish they had shown even less of the demon. It's nothing mind-blowing, but it's on the right track.

The Bad: The film looks cheaply made. The music and camerawork were serviceable but nothing great. Characterization was weak overall, though development between the mother and daughter was okay. The suspense built up pretty well for a majority of the runtime, but when you actually see the demon it's not very convincing. That CGI fire was pretty bad. Why didn't she show her mom the broken chair and door after that chase scene? In the hands of a more meticulous filmmaker with a higher budget, this could've been an A24 horror film like The Witch or Hereditary, but Pyewacket simply isn't on the same level.

If you're a psychological horror fan and/or an indie horror fan, I's say this movie is worth a watch, but don't expect to be blown away. If getting startled by something popping at the screen is the only thing you consider scary, this isn't for you.

Just ok

[PedroPires90 · 6/10 · 4 January 2022]

"The demon is very manipulative. Don't trust in your eyes"

Next scene? She trusts in her eyes.

Forgetting that, it is an enjoyable slow burn that is not *that* terrifying, it is a bit rushed, but it is still able to create a tense and creepy atmosphere.

Wasted film

[jenny-91399 · 5/10 · 10 February 2019]

I was really enjoying this film right up to the end. They had a brilliant tense atmosphere going by only giving small glimpses of Pyewacket, which I believe is one of the key ingredients of a great horror. Then the film just ends, she kills her own mother, then that's the end. Could have been exceptional.

Slow, but decent

[horrorgasm · 25 March 2018]

I don't often have patience for the "slow burn" horror movies, but that's because so many entries into that little sub-genre of horror don't actually have the goods to back up their approach, and often seem to do it simply because their budget ran out or they needed a way to pad out the minutes.

Pyewacket is successful in its attempt to build suspense and tension though, and the cast, script, and direction are good enough to hold your attention until the end despite the fact that very little is actually directly shown in terms of the evil presence at work here.

It's not going to blow your mind, but it's a solid, relatively well-crafted story with a memorable ending.

P.S. Don't listen to that ridiculous 1/10 kid's review that claims you need to be "a professor" to understand this one. This is absolutely not one of those movies with some complex meta plot that you need to rewatch to be able to catch everything. It's 100% straightforward and literally explains right to the viewers' faces what is happening. You shouldn't have any trouble whatsoever understanding this movie unless you ride the short bus.

No shocks equals good movie in this case

[filmtogo · 7/10 · 7 July 2018]

I was really impressed with Nicole Muñoz watching this movie. She hasn't done a lot of big movies (yet) or even carried a movie on her shoulders like she does here. And it totally works. Director Adam MacDonald has found a perfect main actress for this disturbing and eerie tales of a teenage girl and her mother spending some time in a cabin in the woods. It's a quiet and moody movie. First we get some glimpses but midway through the film we discover that some kind of fascination for dark magic is driving this girl mad (or she is driven mad by her mother and turns to dark magic). "Pyewacket" has no big jump scare moments but that's exactly why it's so good.

Slow fused, low SFX high quality acting

[cmoidamien · 7/10 · 13 June 2018]

The movie is average budget (in a good way) but you can feel extra care was put into editing. Sound editing is also really good. Story remind me of Mister Babadook in the occult/psychological portraying of spirits and possession. And grief.

The gothic teenager cast is accurate, and realistic, and give a pretty interesting "coming of age" taste to the story. Nicole Munoz is pretty moving in the role of an anxious Goth girl. Great performance. Its never cliché and you do genuinely care about her story, and get to understand her point.

Her performance shadow the one of Laurie Holden the grieving mother, wich is still pretty okay.

Its a slow-fuse, low SFX horror story that give a paced creeping sense of unease. Dont expect a lot of jumpscare, its litterally hauting.

All in one its a very decent second movie for the young director.

Awful

[mikeycreasonn · 1/10 · 20 July 2021]

Quite literally the most boring "scary" movie I have ever seen. It's not as much a movie about a witch as it is an "emo drama"...if there was ever such a genre. Would highly recommend never watching this movie if you're a horror movie fan of any degree. I can't put into words how utterly disappointing and uneventful this joke of a movie was. Avoid the frustration. Avoid the headache. Dont bother.

Very ambitious horror flick from a director who absolutely has a very bright future

[AhmedSpielberg99 · 6/10 · 24 March 2018]

I have a lot of issues with Pyewacket: (dull dialogue between the mother and her daughter, bad set up for the dramatic aspect, some scary scenes that either don't have too much to do with the story or just were poorly executed, slow pacing that didn't work before the climax), but this indie flick also has a lot of pros:

Adam MacDonald used many clever techniques for shooting the jump scares and the other scary scenes using very wide shots to reveal somethings which is very unique and creative way to be used in Horror films. The slow pacing helped the film after the climax and really made it an insidious slow burn.The movie established masterful rules and basics for the evil force from using the rituals. Also, the sound engineering and the editing are top-notch and so risky to be used that way in a horror film but that made some scenes seem way scarier than what they could have been.

All the performances were very good and helped enhancing the terror aspect and elevating the dramatic one. The psychological part played a vital role to make me invested in the characters and the story itself, and of course Nicole Muñoz who played Leah has a big role in that.

The cinematography is great; it is dreary and gloomy but also strangely beautiful.

(6.5/10)

Was it meant to be scary?

[mvike · 4/10 · 18 January 2019]

I want to apologize, I don't typically enjoy bashing decent budget horror, because we don't have enough of it..however..

After reading the 9/10 and 10/10 reviews I thought, WOW! This is going to be wicked good, & scary. It's neither. Let's break down why...

1. You have your typical 15-17 yr old ANGSTY teen living with a parent that due to the death of the other parent is just hardly holding it together (how original.)

2. You have your typical, "no one believes me, IM NOT CRAZY!" Lead actress.

3. After feeling as if nothing AT ALL happened in a long time, I checked the time, thinking it must be about 35 min into the film so it should pick up soon?? NOPE, it was actually OVER 1 hour in, with less than 19 minutes to go...semi spoiler, absolutely NOTHING has been seen or happened yet.

4. You have our lead contact a demon/witch/opossum wrangler or whatever he is & to find out how to reverse the curse (again...very original)

5. LOOSE ENDS!! I won't spoil it, but all that I'll say is "ok??? Sooo...what happened to her friend...? What was the point of the whole sleep over scene!?"

6. This is less of a spoiler & more of a heads up...you see the demon/witch a TOTAL of 2x. Once is actually a fairly neat scene outside which lasts about...15 seconds, and the other time when it breaks into the room which lasts...well let's just say it's a GLANCE. Total screentime for Ms Wacket? Estimate of about ...25 seconds MAX.

7. This will sorta tie into 6. The horror...the scares....there isn't ANY. No, NONE. I saw one reviewer say "you could sleep through the first 45 min & miss nothing" sadly...he's absolutely right. And overall, I don't think there was even one scene in the entire film that I felt was scary...in fact...I feel if the language was toned way down, this COULD have VERY VERY VERY easily been an episode of GooseBumps (I actually am not even joking, that's what's sad.)

8. Slow burn? Ummm...SURE! If by slow burn you mean, it burns slowly but nothing ever happens, & it eventually just burns out?? See #6 & 7 for clarification.

9. I can't BELIEVE the man who made "Backcountry" which was actually pretty intense & well done, made THIS film. Yikes, talk about a step backward. This film is going to fade into history mostly unwatched, for good reason.

10. The main actress. She was actually not bad!! I wouldn't mind seeing her in some other films.

In closing, this is really just your very average, basic plot in almost every single way. Without being too mean, I'll just say this...this film offers NOTHING new. And it does NOTHING you haven't already seen 100x in every PG13 horror film that comes out.

I am a horror junkie, ALL KINDS of horror from graphic, to totally psychological, and I'm telling you..save your time.

P.S. if you've seen the trailer? It's every intense moment in the film, & the trailer is somehow 5x more scary than the film. Watch at your own risk! ;)

Surprisingly Effective Indie-Horror

[afrodome · 7/10 · 14 October 2019]

This movie has been on my "watch-list" for almost 2 years. I wanted to see it but for whatever reasons I was worried that it would disappoint just The Conjuring films and The Witch. After watching an interview with Adam MacDonald, I knew that skipping his films would be doing him a disservice. From what I gathered in his interviews, he has a genuine passion for the horror genre. He knows what audiences seek out to be scared and understands what steps are needed in order to deliver a story that stays with the viewer.

Pyewacket is on a tight budget, but manages to utilize its small budget without making it look cheap. With that said, its limited budget inevitably weakens a lot of the movie, but it still is done very well. Some scenes really give the chills. The music/score is very well done and doesn't opt for stock-esque bang noises or ripoffs of other horror scores. It's low reverberating synths stuck in a loop and as a music composer, I was pleased to hear something actually spooky. There's a shaky-cam effect that makes you feel like you're a bug flying around the character. I don't know how it was done, but it really added to the tension. The climax/ending was pretty shocking and actually elevated the horror to a more grounded & tragic level.

The story can also be split down the middle. It can be both interpretive as a real supernatural occurrence or a psychological one. Both work without one losing credibility over the other. Great horror flick. Recommended.

I Dozed Off

[anannyarox · 1/10 · 10 February 2022]

Never, and I mean it, never, have I seen a horror movie which managed to put me to sleep, and yet, Pyewacket managed to do the impossible. For 70 out of its total 90 minutes of runtime, the movie drags on and on (and on) about an ugh-mom-you-just-don't-understand-me! Girl and her excruciatingly boring teenage angst. The movie desperately tries to save itself in the last 20 minutes by unconvincingly trying to turn the plot into some form of crude psychological thriller, but fails oh so miserably. Years and years of watching horror movies across many languages and lores, and I think I've finally found the absolute worse to ever have been made.

Atmospheric, creepy slow-burner.

[boilerhogs · 8/10 · 30 September 2018]

I tend to rate movies based on my enjoyment of them, more than the more technical values. That being said, we really liked this for the lack of clichéd jump scares and gratuitous gore. The "Pyewacket" bits, though few and far between and a mere matter of seconds, were so well done, that in places it reminded me a bit of the first Insidious, and perhaps some J-horror, like The Ring/The Grudge. The modulating voice was a nice touch. Also, the pacing was a bit like Hereditary.

Don't get me wrong; this isn't going to win any major awards (like I expect Hereditary to), but I did enjoy it and Ontario was a worthy backdrop. Plus, I'm a firm believer in "the real threat comes from the things you can't see" .

Love Steve Peck (ha), hope he does more creepiness.

Ending was a shocker for me

[dnabney · 7/10 · 19 December 2018]

I thought this movie was a really fun, spooky film . . . and then I saw the conclusion. Mind. Blown. My interpretation is that Pyewacket tricked Leah into killing her own mother, which both completed Leah's task and caused her pain. I would still call it fun if the ending had been more positive. Worth a watch if you enjoy atmosphere, sympathetic characters (the mother mostly) and (IMO) atypical endings.

A waste of time.

[southernbelle-uk · 1/10 · 2 September 2019]

I watched this film because of the reviews on here, what a big mistake! Someone on here said it was a "slow burner" so slow that it just got started then it finished,! My partner has now banned me from picking films to watch!.

Be Careful...

[azathothpwiggins · 22 August 2023]

The first noticeable aspect of PYEWACKET is its cold, somber tone. The atmosphere is thick and heavy with foreboding from the first frame. Nicole Munoz never overdoes her role as Leah, the angst-ridden teen / dabbler in the occult. If her character had been over the top, it would've ruined the whole movie. Her friends are equally sedate.

When Leah decides to call upon the entity of the title, it's done in a natural, non-hyperbolic way. Her rash motive for doing so fits the age of the character. Laurie Holden puts in a solid performance as Leah's heartbroken mum, who never really knows what's going on until it's too late.

An unsettling, supernatural cautionary tale about the consequences of hasty decisions...

Slow Burner With Great Atmosphere, Falls A Bit Short In The Final Seconds

[nrasley-90718 · 7/10 · 31 December 2018]

I had somehow missed on on this film until now, but I'm glad I took the time to watch it because it turned out to be pretty good. It's definitely for fans of slow burning horror, so if you're into films such as Hereditary, The Witch, etc, this is certainly worth a watch.

The movie's atmosphere is bleak, dreary, and claustrophobic in my opinion, which is a big plus for me. The buildup of tension is quite good, and writer/director Adam Macdonald was quite successful in leaving a lot to the viewer's imagination without that being an annoyance. Much like the first 2 acts of The Conjuring, you don't see the evil spirit entirely; only glimpses, shadows, or the sound of footsteps that have the character its tormenting so paralyzed with fear, they're afraid to turn around even though they absolutely know something is pacing within a breath of the back of their neck.

One downside to this movie for me was that the two main characters, Leah and her mother (Laurie Holden, who did a great job I thought), both unfortunately suffer from a lack of common sense in many situations. Several had me shaking my head like I did when I watched horror characters make idiotic decisions 20+ years ago that made me yell at my TV. You know, like running up the stairs instead of out the open front door when the slasher is 50 yards behind the screaming character walking at the speed of Michael Myers.

The other main downside for me was the ending. I'm not going to spoil that, but I will say that it was only partially satisfying. To me, it felt incomplete, like just oooone or two more things maybe could have happened in an additional 3-5 minutes that would have wrapped it up. But that's just because of what I was expecting/hoping would occur due to the nature of the antagonist. Your experience may be different.

Well worth a watch.

Slow but good

[carlosmancillabcs · 7/10 · 23 March 2021]

Im glad I didn't listen to the bad reviews about this low budget film that deserves a chance. A movie for horror movie fans.

Boring more like "-1"

[icewolf182004 · 1/10 · 1 June 2020]

Boring more like "-1" Scam reviews. says its 9 or 10 stars but nope! Not scary and very boring!!!!!! wierd story or no story at all.

Entertaining enough

[jess_td · 6/10 · 31 December 2019]

Pyewacket is a low budget and light supernatural horror film that is worth watching.

It's the typical story of teenager summoning an evil creature but it's clever and very well acted. The script is simple and does it's work very well, building reasonable tension minute by minute.

The ending is kinda predictable but I still think it's satisfactory, since it closes the story in a believable way.

What !!!

[lewbaker · 1/10 · 4 October 2018]

Bored out of my brains with this one. Waiting for something good to happen then it ends. Avoid !!!!

They all cant be the evil dead!! Or the conjuring!! It was entertaining!!

[joiningjt · 6/10 · 14 March 2021]

Excellent cast especially the lead actress, she did a great job and the rest of the cast is very good to excellent as well. Not a original concept but a very good story, could have used more scares but overall was enjoyable and at least it's not 1 of those garbage found FOOTAGE so called films.. it's an ACTUAL movie.

Great Flick If

[hawkhuff · 1/10 · 16 March 2021]

If there was some acting, a plot, thematic origin, and insight into the characters, it might be a good movie. Like many of the newer movies this one lacks any depth and thats being generous.

A solid coming of age slow burner

[karakurtf · 8/10 · 3 September 2018]

Pyewacket is a hidden gem for the lovers of the horror genre that might stay with you as "it follows" or "the babadook" did. Sure it does not have the scale or the production values, it does not have a major scope but it tells a slow, personal story with style and credibility. The movie is slow, but not in a pretentious and artsy way. It tells its story without flashy effects or jump scares and relies on character building. You can feel the transition the mother and daughter has been through, and you can see Leah's self esteem wavering when she needs to be sincerely accepted. The lore is simply there to move the story and does it in a subtle but impressing way. Everything from acting to music to visuals completes what comes out as this hidden gem called "Pyewacket". Watch it and see for yourself but know what you are getting into and do not judge the movie for what it's not.

A low budget slow burner with a redeeming ending

[gedikreverdi · 6/10 · 14 December 2020]

Leah relocated to the country with her mother because after her fathers death, her mother wants a fresh start. She was mad because she won't be able to hang out with her friends especially with her crush and she summoned a witch pyewack to kill her mom. She conducted the ritual in the woods and slit her wrist. Her mom did the first aid and felt sorry for what she said about her wanting her to disappears etc. Janice a friend of her comes over and stays overnight but in the morning she was in the car freaked out and stops talking to Leah. Because her mom took a side job at the gift shop, she had to take the bus to home and in the forest she saw her mom laying dead in the forest before she was able to inverse the ritual. She had contacted the occultist writer and knew how to inverse it all but it seemed too late and her mom called her from the house. She thinks it's pyewack because it can take everyone's shape. She took some gas from the car and burn her in her bed and her crush came over with car. The police didn't find a body in forest but only his moms charred body in the fire. Pyewack did its job.

Don't bother

[cboonzaaier · 1/10 · 24 April 2019]

Weak ending, weak characters, poor acting... The list goes on