Horror Movie Review: Wither (2012)

From writers and directors Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund (with David Liljeblad as an additional writer) comes Wither (Vittra), Sweden’s answer to The Evil Dead. Where the only memorable thing about it ends up being the excessive amount of blood and guts that are spilled.

Its title is apt, as step by step and scene by scene, interest and excitement in what this film offers slowly withers. With a basic and bland story, rip-off Evil Dead elements, lacklustre and frustrating characters, confusing horror elements, and vomit-inducing shaky camera work, Wither is one hell of a disappointing watch.

It stars Patrik Almkvist and Lisa Henni as Albin and Ida, respectively. A happy couple who plan a weekend getaway at a remote cabin with Ida’s brother Simon (Patrick Saxe) and some friends.

Sounding familiar? Well, how about something evil lurking in the basement that infects one of the group, resulting in carnage that has zombie like parallels without the restrictive rules of the horror genre? Yes, Wither is less of a homage to The Evil Dead, and more of a blatant rip-off. Albeit without any of the personality, humour, or excitement that makes for such an iconic watch.

The story set-up is as basic as it comes, and it’s the first clue that Wither doesn’t have much to offer in that regard. Yet, it has a ton of characters that it simply refuses to develop in any way. This applies to all of them, including the leads Albin and Ida, but is at its worst with the secondary bunch. You simply won’t believe anyone is actually friends here, or that they even know each other. Heck, it’s so bad that many might forget that Ida and Simon are brothers, so unimportant is that aspect.

The problem with such a bland story and awful characters is that it means there’s simply no weight to any of events that occur here. Who cares who dies? The movie tells us that they’re not important, so why should we care? That it tries to make some moments emotional, is laughable, and it’s hard to not start getting annoyed with the filmmakers for the lack of effort.

This also applies to the downright sickening use of shaky camera work that makes so many scenes unwatchable. What the hell is this? A Rob Zombie movie?

All Wither has to offer is a ton of violence and gore, and on that front, it’s excessive. Some scenes are downright uncomfortable to watch, and you can’t help but think the goal was to court a certain amount of outrage here. Why else have so much of the violence be meted out by men on women? It is extremely disproportionate, and near the end, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either.

Although senselessness is the name of the game here. Where the infected act like feral zombies, can spread the infection via traditional zombie methods, but seem indestructible. At least up until the movie forgets its own rules and suddenly some are dying via stabbing and having a heavy bookshelf dropped on them.

Though this is par for the course as the movie is littered with obvious issues that break the immersion. Come the end, few will actually care though, and just be glad it’s finally over.