The Haunting of Pendle Hill (2022)

It's nice to occasionally see a part of the world that you're not too far removed from and Pendle Hill is not an hour away by car from here, so I was curious to see what had been made of the infamous location of the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612.

Pleasantly surprised, Pendle and the outlying area seem suitably barren and unwelcoming, which is true in reality. A spot for dark tourism, mainly, the woods can be an unsettling place to get lost in, and the unforgiving nature of the place is evident here. Based loosely around the story of characters hung for witchcraft at the time, the plot ties itself, albeit not too tightly, to the lore of the area, although its attempt at malevolence is not convincing.

The acting leaves a lot to be desired and the script can only wish to be even as good as that. Produced on a miniscule budget which is as obvious as a badly timed fart in church. One star is purely for the effort, but this a test of patience for even die-hard fans of the genre.