Jealousy jettisons joyful jubilations juttingly jeopardized and disjointed by a judgemental jezebel jesting while juggling jinxes as a harbinger of jitters.

Written and directed by Pierre Tsigaridis, Two Witches is divided into two chapters. The first is “The Boogeywoman,” which is about a pregnant woman who faces strange occurrences after coming across an elderly woman in a diner. It starts small with seeing shadowed figures and faces in the dark. Things progressively get worse after she and her friends try to contact whatever is tormenting her with a Ouija board. What could possibly go wrong? Things get dark fast as the stakes and level of fear increase. That being said, it does have several generic set pieces and predictable plotlines.

Belle Adams plays Sarah, the main protagonist subjected to a witch’s curse. Ian Michaels plays Simon, her boyfriend. Dina Silva is Melissa, a psychic who wants to use her power to help her friend. Tim Fox is Dustin, Melissa’s boyfriend. While the cast gives good performances, the characters are bland and not very likable. It’s not that I have anything against them, but I just didn’t find them all that interesting and that makes it hard to want to see them succeed, let alone root for them.

Chapter two, “Masha,” is about a young woman who’s claiming that when her grandmother passes away she will gain her power and become a witch like her. Rebekah Kennedy is good at being charming or seductive one minute and then turning totally sinister the next. Kristina Klebe is Rachel, her supportive best friend. Her performance splendidly shows a diminished friendship as her trust fades.

While it’s cleverly written when it comes to the plot, the one dimensional characters have no personal growth. What this one has going for it is shocking imagery and good gore effects for the gruesome kills. Granted, it has holes. What is Masha’s motivation? Why does she want this power? Why does she use it the way she does?

The film is directed with a distinct style, but it also has some substance to it. Touching on themes of jealousy, relationships, betrayal, and companionship, it could have taken a deeper dive in developing characters more. Numerous filmmaking techniques are effectively used to create a suspenseful atmosphere. The camera angles are done particularly well. Certain shots are set up to provide good jump scares but it’s not over-reliant on them. Quick editing is utilized to build tension, as well. It’s very effective and not jarring at all. Great practical effects also help to show how horrifying it can get when tampering with dark forces that aren’t completely understood.

I’d recommend Two Witches to fans of things like Suspiria as it’s heavily influenced by it and other Italian films of that time. Good quality witch films are so hard to come by these days, so don’t miss this. Two Witches might not be perfect, but it’s fun and that is all that matters. And remember, it’s all a bunch of hocus pocus until someone gets hurt.

7 out of 10