One of my favourite horror elements is that of black magic, specifically witchcraft, and specifically performed by witches. I never really took too much to the idea of wizards or warlocks – there’s just something about female practitioners of black magic that appeals to me, they seem darker, somehow. Not that men can’t – the real world has a much higher ration of evil men to evil women, and maybe that’s where the appeal lies; it’s different in the world of the supernatural. And I will be even more specific here – I prefer younger witches to the old ones. Like the archetype of the vampire, there’s a strongly sexual appeal in the youthful-looking witch image. They’re women who yield power confidently, unafraid, unrestrained. I’ve always had a thing for Samantha from Bewitched, and Samantha Robinson as The Love Witch is about as sexy (and sociopathic) a practitioner as you could possibly find. The movie 7 Witches features a another darkly sppealing witch, as part of a familial coven. I watched this movie last night, knowing nothing about it, arriving as it did from a mysterious benefactor …
As soon as Kurt Russell was introduced as Ego, in Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2, one specific thought came to – how was he going to die? Now, to anyone who reads comics, especially those who remember when comics were a good, fun read, it’s no spoiler to say that Ego, The Living Planet is historically one of Marvel’s cosmic villains. First introduced on the final page of the September 1966 issue (#132) of The Mighty Thor, Ego is defeated in the following issue and vows to never attack anyone else … of course, over the decades, Ego has returned again and again to threaten lots of places and superheroes. But the specific story I immediately thought of was Fantastic Four #235, a few issues into John Byrne’s legendary run as writer and artist. And, as it turns out, I was right on the money. So what does this have to do with the review? I’ll get to it a little later.
AT THE FOOTHILLS OF MADNESS 