Arrow Video, out 17 October

An expectant young mother is convinced she has been given the evil eye from a mysterious blank-eyed old hag, while tensions grow between a grad school student and her new roommate

Debut director Pierre Tsigaridis’ horror film is being feted for its thematic similarities with the work of Italian horror maestros like Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava, and while it’s possible to identify their influences in his creepy movie, let’s not get too carried away with the plaudits.

Very much a film of two halves, the first section, Chapter 1: The Boogeywoman, follows pregnant Sarah, who’s troubled by a white-eyed witch while out for a meal. Unexpected appearances of the witch at home leads to the mind-numbingly dumb idea of using a Ouija board to contact the spirit world, with predictable results. The second chapter is more successful, chronicling young witch Masha (a startling performance by Rebekah Kennedy) who is causing mayhem at party.

The epilogue suggests that there’s more story to tell, and this is confirmed by ‘To be continued’ at the end. I’m keen to see what happens next, as there’s plenty of imagination on display here, and I think it would be more helpful if the movie is judged more on its own merits rather than a callback to other more established directors’ work.

Arrow’s release includes audio commentaries by director Tsigaridis (he’s also the editor and cinematographer) and producer Maxime Rancon, behind-the-scenes featurettes, interviews with actors Dina Silva and Marina Parodi and composer Gioacchino Marincola. The first pressing includes and illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel, plus a double-sided fold-out poster.

Verdict: An interesting new face to watch out for in horror, creating unsettling visions of evil. 7/10

Nick Joy