It's incredible this film was ever funded, incredible that after seeing the final product it was allowed to be released. Incredibly boring, no depth at all to the characters or story. No 3rd act conflict. It's not even clear where this is occurring for a while. No scares, no character development, and no explanation as to how the witch came to be, how did the lassy (girl played by a 25 year old) find the special, particular tree so easily? Why does it only banish the witch for 12 years. How was a woman-child able to banish the witch that had been around for hundreds of years in seconds, without being in any danger and with such ease. Doesn't this make them all bad people that they allowed so many wains to die when they could have taken care of the witch without even a minor inconvenience? How did woman go from such contempt for her husband (are the married? As its never explained) to adoring him in seconds? This film had the potential to be brilliant, a couple of co-writers to strengthen the script would have made a huge difference. The opening/closing music was beautiful and opening shots of forest were stunning. But that's it.

Ps. Question at the end of writing this review "does your review contain spoilers? Naw, there's nothing to spoil.

Well, aside from the decent cameraman shooting scenes of a beautiful autumnal woodland... this film was shocking.

The title and image were enough to lure this horror fan in, being a lover of B movies I was enchanted with the first 5 minutes. (Lovely opening tune).

SWITCH OFF at this point I beg you!

In my partners humble opinion, the end credits were a welcome relief and the best part of the film. He managed to put 4 loads of washing on, iron in another room and cook dinner (what a guy), hollering the occasional "have I missed anything"? To which I always replied, "no".

There was no story, appalling acting and terrible narrative. How do these films get made and endorsed? Fair play for trying but stick with restaurants eh?

The locations and cinematography are excellent, with establishing scenes often shot through a slight misty autumnal haze, which is very effective. The acting is mixed - some lines are garbled on occasion, but what lets this down is the lack of incident in a very dull and uneventful story.

There is a lot of dialogue issued from curiously underwritten characters. For example, the estranged Frank (Jimmy 'The Bee' Bennett - also the film's location manager) is treated with contempt by former partner Ingrid (Rose Hakki) and admits he deserves such treatment, but it's never explained why. From the evidence onscreen, he seems a fairly decent character. Cult actress Rula Lenska is Omi, and it is to her we return during the course of the film where she is given reams of static exposition to unload.

This is a real shame as much of the production is really good. The pace is leaden, any frights are few and far between. It's not really a spoiler to say that we do see the witch from the title ... for a total of about ten seconds, mainly in the anti-climactic finale.

Director and writer Richard John Taylor has helmed a number of productions, many of them gangster yarns (starring the late Leslie Grantham, to whom the production company - Hello Princess - is dedicated). A strong co-writer or script editor would do wonders for future endeavours. A real mixed bag; my score is 4 out of 10.