Drawing Down the Moon (independent film)

[Lilu]

I have been following the progress of this film since it just got started, and I've finally blown our video budget on a copy of the released video! :)

Check it out here:

http://www.drawingdownthemoon.com

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Lilu

[Wyrdsister]

Woo-hoo! Is it worth it, Lilu? I'm very interested to see this movie, but I'm sure I'd have to special order it and I'd like to know if the film is good before buying it! :)

Wyrdsister

[Lilu]

I only ordered it today, but it sounds like it's going to be really good. I will let you know once it arrives and I've watched it :)

Lilu

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Give me a shout too please.

Would love to see if the film is worth purchasing. The website was well done.

[Sora]

Interesting... very interesting.. I'll have to mooch a copy off of someone when it is produced.

[Lilu]

Starts out with a bit of a tut-tut for me. An obviously "out there" witch wandering around a backwater town somewhere talking about witchcraft and such without any concern - which is cool in and of itself - but then wonders why she has people looking at her weird and calling her a satanist and what not? Naive at best. A definite fluffy bunny too.

I disliked the fact that she seems to go about performing different forms of magick and healing without permission. My personal beliefs are that you ASK first, but in the first five minutes of the movie we see her perform a healing on a woman with cancer while she is sleeping, without asking her permission at first. And later on we see her casting a spell on a young girl without permission - even if it was for protection, it's still without permission of either the girl OR the parents.

Then in the next ten minutes she breaks into an abandoned building - empty or not it's still breaking and entering - because she has a "feeling" about it, and she wants to look around. Not too good on the obeying the law there... even if she does turn it into a homeless shelter later with permission of the owner - she couldn't have asked him to look in the building first?

It is an independent film, so they didn't have a million dollar budget obviously, and the acting shows. The storyline isn't too bad, but there is a lot of eyebrow-raising scenes where one has to wonder if they couldn't have done better.

I did enjoy the magick sessions - different cuts of rituals show her invoking the Goddess and Horned God. We see her invoking the elements for protection, and different other things as the movie progresses, all very interesting - but brief. And what witch movie wouldn't be complete without it's own version of binding in it? Even if the binding never works. heh. The only thing I would have added in this area is less "ever heard of the constitution? We have rights!" declarations, and a little MORE explanations on her beliefs and practices - perhaps even introducing the rede - as she obviously follows "harm none".

The martial arts is somewhat interesting, it's good to see her use a form of self-defense, though I'm not sure about it being aikido which is what it's called in the movie - a lot of the moves looked like they came from tae quan do to me, but maybe they are just similar. She certainly wasn't very well trained at BLOCKING punches or kicks, even if she was able to flip people over her shoulder on occasion.

One of the major letdowns in my opinion is the ending - it is extremely rushed and tends to leave a few odds and ends undone. The drawing down the moon ritual, for which I assume the movie is named, was entirely too brief and not explained at all - all we see is a little chanting and a collapsing woman after what I ASSUME was invoking the Goddess. It was a very big let down.

A final complaint is how someone with such *experience* in the Craft thinks that RUSHING a healing ritual - rather than not doing it at all - is a good thing. Not only does she rush into it stating "we don't have much time let's get this started" - therefore she is not in a very good frame of mind for spellwork OR healing - but she casts the circle INSIDE the circle of people.

I'd have thought casting a circle AROUND the circle of people would be better, as she uses herself to direct the energy as she walks, rather than using an athame or wand to direct the energy. But maybe that's just a personal thing. And while this movie is not one of special effects (read: flying witches like in The Craft) I COULD have extended my disbelief to see that bullet fly right through the circle without harming anyone, as they were supposedly between worlds at the time.

Should you buy it? If you have a spare $30 I'd add it to your collection, but if you are going to go into debt for this movie - don't bother ;) For storyline and acting, I give it a 5/10. For a more accurate portrayal of witchcraft than any other movie I've seen out there, it is in my opinion the best so far.

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Lilu

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Thanks for the review Lilu ;)

[Myst]

Thanks Lilu. Check out my response at Sacred Grove, k?