HUNTING FOR THE HAG (2023)

New On Demand from Into the Night Motion Pictures!
Directed by Paul A. Brooks.
Written by Paul A. Brooks, Sierra Renfro.
Check out the trailer here!!

A trio of gals, Tara, Beth, and Candy (Jasmine Williams, Alexa Maris and co-writer Sierra Renfro, respectively) try to make a documentary about a local legend known as The Hawthorne Hag, who is said to haunt the forests of Southern Illinois. They travel to the spot where the legend was born to capture the hag on video for the first time.

Are the actors successfully acting like they aren’t acting?
All three of the lead actresses are decent but look more like Sears catalog models than paranormal investigators. The gals are ill equipped for a jaunt through the woods, wearing shorts and tank tops for this investigation. Yes, later they change into jeans, but this is basically three gals who are not prepared for an encounter with some kind of monster. Maybe that’s the point, but it doesn’t make them likable. The three actresses feel rather vapid and clueless, even the ones who are most motivated to make this documentary. Daniel Roebuck appears as the investigator into this case and while he adds a little more acting prowess to the film, his recognizability lessens authenticity of the film. Found footage is supposed to be a genre where we are not supposed to recognize these actors and that they are acting. As soon as you recognize the actor, it takes away from the mystique that this is real footage found.

Does the footage found seem authentic and untouched by additional production (which means there is no omniscient editor making multiple edits between cameras or an invisible orchestra providing music)?
This is set up to be footage found and put together to understand what went on during the filming of this hunt for the hag. So, a little creative editing between cameras is plausible. Still, there are a few moments where one is wondering who is filming when all three women are in frame. Then, there is a weird section of the movie where the camera is shut off and we simply get a live scene that felt out of the blue and very rattling, as if the director wasn’t able to think of a way to film it using the found footage method, so they said, fuck it and just filmed it cinematically for about ten minutes. Soon after, the camera is picked up and filming commences, but this was a very odd and unsettling way to make a found footage film. Odd and unsettling in a bad way, not a good one. At the very least, there is no musical accompaniment in the footage captured on camera. It really makes the shift between what is captured on camera and the scenes filmed cinematically distinct from one another.

Why don’t they just drop the camera and get the hell out of there?
Well, at first, the gals are trying to capture footage of the hag on film. So, they are filming everything. When complications arise on the shoot, the footage is then taken as sport for some and as a means to incriminate others. Basically, HUNTING FOR THE HAG justifies the need for the camera to keep filming.

Is there an up-nose BLAIR WITCH confessional or a REC-drag away from the camera?
Nope. So this film has that going for it.

Does anything actually happen? Is the lead in too long and the payoff too short?
After an ominous lead-in, there is an awful lot of getting to know you time which stagnates the flow of the story. Not only do the girls have to talk over each other in the car ride there, but they have to do the same thing in the above ground pool at the cabin they are staying at. Things finally get moving in the last half and keep on moving until the end. There are a few decent jump scares that work. And I do like the plot twist of others being out in this forest at the time of filming that takes the story into a whole different direction into a genre of horror that is not going to sit well with some. There is a very late payoff and a suggestion for a sequel which most likely won’t happen in the final moments.

Does the film add anything to the subgenre and is it worth watching?
I can’t hate HUNTING FOR THE HAG if I tried. The actresses while vapid at times, were engaging and easy on the eyes. While some of their motivations are hazy and they are definitely not prepared for what they are about to see, the film highlights that as they fall to pieces once they actually find something in the woods. The shift from cinematically filmed footage to found is jarring and out of the blue. I’m sure with a little use of the noodle, they could have kept everything in the found camera, but they chose the easy way. Blending elements from I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE is bold and will turn off some. And a lot of the secondary performances are simply cliches rather than characters. Still, HUNTING FOR THE HAG has its moments. This isn’t a good movie by far, but it is very watchable.