Heir of the Witch is a chilling folk horror full of unnerving surprises. All is not as it appears. In fact, the things that you see may not be what is truly going on at all. Anna is plagued by traumatic memories and haunted by the angry spirit of her grandmother, the witch who is even more dangerous in death than she was in life. Through Ana's memories, we are shown in flashbacks how she came to be cursed.
Starring Victoria U Bell as Anna, a seamstress caring for her sickly aunt and supporting herself by making beautiful dresses for wealthy snobs who flock together like a bunch of "mean girls" with all the maturity of a high school clique. Anna floats along on the periphery of their lives, never really being part of the in crowd. The movie does not rely on typical jump scares but adds an element of psychological fear that kept me glued to my screen. My only minor complaint would be that it does occasionally make use of distorted demonic-sounding voices which although they can be scary it sometimes makes the dialogue tough to understand. What is scary, is the ever-increasing dread as the witch infests every aspect of Anna's life in order to get what she wants. The effects are better than I have seen in recent indie movies and many of the scenes are visually striking.
Deanna Rashell shines in the role of Chloe the leader of the clique who takes advantage of Anna's good nature and financial problems. Ben Holtzmuller was perfect as Chloe's unhappy husband with a wandering eye.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys psychological horror in addition to folk horror.
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