For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This film is inspired by the glamour of past classics and tries to tackle the enforced masculinity of those films. It is a film for women to recognize the predicament of being a woman in a society mostly run by men for men.The woman is seen as a child, a Lolita, the other woman, the wife that cooks and cares for the spawn of the man and finally becomes surplus to needs and finally a spinster.The man cannot see past his own biological needs which are embellished in culture and media because they sell so easily.Consider the man who preys on younger girls but then holds his own daughters due to their virginity. He protects them like possessions to be "taken" by another man.Consider the man who chases a girl, has his way and then decides she is not that great anymore.Women are a vessel for mens needs but they are so much more.Woman have their own needs, dreams and aspirations yet are forced to conform to this society of masculinity that is so flawed yet seems to be sustained.This film is an expression of woman and not popcorn chomping material.

First time I watched the movie it was a stunning experience, the tone of strangeness, the fine music, the "coloring", indeed, it is a strange movie. And for the first 15 minutes, till the movie got me, I didn't know what I watched, what I should expect.The Love Witch I guess will split most of the audience into two groups - one group will find the movie extraordinary and genius, the other group will be bored or will maybe feel that the movie is too artificial. I for certain belong to the first group.I guess it helps for understanding the story if you have some knowledge about occultism, there is a lot of stuff more going on (not only the obvious like potion making etc.) and if you know some basics about magick you will understand more of what's going on then the uneducated "muggle". Or at least your mind will trick you to find such stuff and connections ;)Anyway, this movie is imo a very special one: adventurous, daring and experimental. And the 70s style of Technicolor-coloring is really an eye balm and a very hypnotic experience (I don't understand why it isn't used anymore, looks far better at least for certain genres as the modern, digital stuff) and well supported by a fantastic and strange soundtrack.And like the almighty Arnold once stated: "I don't play Conan, I am Conan", for me Samantha Robinson is the perfect Love Witch.Last words: if the movie making industry would deliver more of such experimental and daring movies, that would be just fantastic. Well, wait a moment, maybe I should do some movie magick! ;)

Excuisite work of art, not knowing this movie was made last year surprised me even more. Beautiful color, costumes, the little details in the set, and the main lead. The plot's slow, exactly like old movies, some people who are accustomed with fast paced movie plot of course cant enjoy it, to me watching this movie is like reading a book, it's relaxing. Once again amazing cinematography, there're some movie that tried to copy old style cinema, "the artists" for instance, it didn't feel classic at all, the main lead, the forced black and white color & mute dialogue, it doesn't come close to the classic technicolor feeling like this artistic movie.

A girl named Elaine moves to a new town and a new place. The real estate agent befriends her and invites her for tea to some fancy place. They talk about relationship and love. Elaine is single after the death of her ex and is desperate for love. The agent has been married for years and doesn't understand Elaine's need for love. Turns out Elaine is also a witch. She starts making products for witchcraft and selling them to a local spiritual store. In flashbacks we learn about her ex a bit; we also see her ceremony of initiation. At a strip joint she runs into her witchcraft masters, some couple.Soon Elaine meets a professor who instantly falls for her. He takes her to his cabin where she cooks for him, does a little strip dance and he goes completely crazy for her, gets sick and dies. She does some witchcraft with her urine, a used tampon and some other stuff and buries the body.When the real estate agent travels out of town, Elaine hooks up with and seduces her husband who also goes mad for her and ends up committing suicide.Meanwhile, the cops start investigating the disappearance of the professor and find the body and the witchcraft. Soon they find out about Elaine and interview her. Elaine immediately falls for the cop in charge. They go out on a date, end up in some goofy renaissance fair organized by the witch couple who do some binding/marriage ceremony for the two. With that the investigation into Elaine is dropped. When the real estate woman goes to Elaine's place she finds things she shouldn't and provides it to the police. When Elaine meets her guy at the strip joint, the patrons want her burned. They manage to escape. And Elaine won't be able to help herself in regard to her new guy.The Love Witch does have the look and feel of a late 60s early 70s movie. It also has a certain timelessness. It's not clear how much time goes by in the movie. This is enhanced by anachronistic elements like contemporary cars and cell phones. Some people object to it, I find it fine. Male left-brain thinking won't get you very far with this movie. It is true that the movie is too long and a bit too kitschy. The cheesy marriage thing in the woods should have been removed altogether.One does wonder though what the message of this movie is. In that regard it's a success though because one expects something of a message. Our witch pretty much only talks about love and has interesting things to say about relationships. She says she's addicted to love, but once she has men madly in love with her, she ends up...killing them. She doesn't like men who cry, but the tough men she likes aren't the ones who fall in love with her, as usually happens in life.Our witch to some extent represents some old-fashioned view. She dreams of preparing meals for her man, of satisfying his needs, something the real estate agent finds outrageous and beneath her. She represents the current view which is all about equality and power. Of course those two are mutually exclusive. And sure enough, while Elaine is conducting her seduction ritual she cooks and completely sympathizes with her victims much to their astonishment. They've never met a woman who understood them.I appreciated this unabashed femininity by Elaine and the movie as a whole. The problem is that it's not clear whether the writer/director is celebrating or mocking it.The lovely Samantha Robinson carries this movie. While others complain about her stiff acting, she's not the only one acting this way in the movie, which suggests it's what the director wanted. A movie about a witch in that era should have included more nudity, especially by our lead actress, but it's another area the director isn't quite sure. There's plenty of Tarzan nudity with actresses wearing underpants and their hair covering their chest.There's a lot to like about The Love Witch but it's not entirely satisfying either. But in a time that celebrates transactional relationships and where partners are seen as an aspirational accessory instead of as companions, this movie is much needed.