Nicolas Cage’s descent into the bowels of cinematic purgatory threw up plenty of stinkers, but 2011 fantasy Season of the Witch had the potential to at least be elevated into “so bad it’s good” territory, on the proviso that it didn’t take itself too seriously, which is unfortunately did.
The cast alone was enough to pique interest that a deliberately over-the-top combination of historical epic and supernatural horror was on the cards, with Academy Award winner Cage being joined by reliable veteran Ron Perlman, future Emmy and Golden Globe-winning The Crown star Claire Foy, rising star Robert Sheehan, the always-solid Stephen Graham, and even the legendary Christopher Lee.
Instead, Season of the Witch was trashed by critics and blasted by audiences, with the $40 million adventure struggling at the box office and being blighted by respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of just 11 and 30 percent respectively from either side of the divide. Of course, effects-heavy romps are ideal Friday night or lazy weekend escapist entertainment, with the critical and commercial dud finding favor on-demand this weekend after it was anointed as one of the most-watched movies on Prime Video by FlixPatrol.
Ludicrous without even realizing – or at the very least not being leaned into anywhere strongly enough – Cage’s veteran of the Crusades takes a job to transport an accused witch across Europe where she’ll be dealt with by religious higher-ups. A slog of a journey in more ways than one, Season of the Witch could have been knowingly trashy B-tier joy, but opted to be relentlessly tedious instead.