User reviews

This is a real shame, because Witchslayer Gretl(or Gretl: Witch Hunter) alongside Black Forest(similar genre, and while flawed was a better movie) had one of the better ideas in a long time from SyFy. It was a very interesting idea and could have been tolerable at least with the right execution. However, the execution didn't work for me and overall I did find it dull. For one thing, I didn't think much effort went into the set design and stuff. I didn't see much life or anything at the couple of shacks there were or the cave covered in moss. And the costumes didn't feel authentic, as far as I know these actors could've come fresh from a fancy dress party or something. The effects are cheap, even for SyFy, and I have seen some schlock in my lifetime in that aspect, and the editing has a haphazard look to it. Even worse was the story, yet another movie that had a good, no great, concept, that fell so hard on terrible execution, the action was generic(crossbows fired, witches stabbed) and didn't maintain my interest much, and the story was predictable and so sluggish that I almost drifted off once or twice. The script is anachronistic and stilted, the characters are just as lifeless as the pace and the acting is incredibly stiff, even from Shannon Doherty. Speaking of Doherty I was surprised that for a lead role how little she was in Witchslayer: Gretl until the final third of the film, where it sort of picks up but it was too late to care. The only person to inject life into her part was Sarain Boylan. Overall, rather dull and pointless at the end of the day. Loved the concept, but the execution was the complete opposite. 2/10 Bethany Cox

It might be possible to make a good updated version of Hansel and Gretel but this trifling Syfy original is decidedly NOT it. Choosing to merely throw the hapless viewer into the 'thick' of things with Hansel now being a master witch slayer doing his thing, which I surmise is shooting arrows while poorly CGI'd fireballs come his way. It doesn't get better from there. Charectization is supremely dull when it's not downright confusing, couple that with characters I don't really give two tosses about and it's a recipe for massive boredom. I only got through it only to review, condemn and steer you clear of watching this mess. Also if you're a fan of Shannon Doherty be prepared to be doubly disappointed as she's woefully underused.

My Grade: D-

The 1800s story of "Hansel and Gretel" (from the Brothers Grimm) receives a confusing sequel with "Witchslayer Gretl". The original ending seems to have been ignored; probably, we are to assume other events occurred in the intervening years. In what appears to be about 30 years after the famous brother and sister cooked the old witch's goose, we find adult Paul McGillion (as Hansel) is a Witchslayer. He kills witches (violently) with help from recovering blonde witch Sarain Boylan (as Lara). They pick up and reform younger blonde witch Emilie Ullerup (as Ehren). Hansel is attempting to discover the fate of his sister Gretel, who is adult Shannen Doherty (spelled Gretl)...

Early on, Ms. Doherty appears only in shadows - probably, this is because we would all say, "A-ha! That's his sister Gretl" - okay, there is no reason for the shadows. There is also no reason to call this TV Movie "Witchslayer Gretl". Doherty's "Gretl" is not the Witchslayer. That title belongs to Hansel. Still, you have to forgive director Mario Azzopardi and folks who named this story, for not knowing the Witchslayer - it is a difficult movie to sit through, even (obviously) for the people who created this poorly titled "Witchslayer Gretl". Also in the cast is warlock Jefferson Brown (as Abyss), who has issues with Ms. Boylan and the Queen Witch. He also has great sideburns.

** Witchslayer Gretl (2/25/12) Mario Azzopardi ~ Paul McGillion, Sarain Boylan, Shannen Doherty, Jefferson Brown

Most people have read the story of Hansel & Gretel during their kindergarten time. It seems that now is the time to make a different version of the fairy-tales. They have done several version of Snowhite, why not Hansel & Gretel now.

The first impression, it is either bad players who don't know how to act properly or a mediocre director who can see that the acting was very bad. This is not something you watch from a movie, but more from a high- school play. The acting was awkward most of the time and on top of that a very low quality costumes and low cost setting.

The story-line takes on the time when Hansel has grown-up and he is back to the place where he lost his sister. A little magic here and there to spice up the performance, but overall a very clumsy warlock in on the scene most of the time and trying to kidnap girls (this is another silly Hollywood recipe...., you have to sacrifice women and not men in order to do something magical....). Of course they have to show that there is magic..., when the witches are killed, their body is instantly disappeared...

My overall rating is 1, that is for making this horrible movie and spending the money to finance it, but don't waste your time to watch it. You will regret it......

If you finished the title of this review without thinking, you're familiar with the flavor of "Gretl: Witch Hunter."

Saturday afternoon matinée sword 'n sorcery at it's middlest. The anachronisms might cause you to throw your (empty) beer at the screen, but in mock anger, much like the actors.

The conditions I watched this under weren't the best, so I won't speak to cinematography, but the FX match up with the latter episodes of Xena, though not quite to Legend of the Seeker or certainly Game of Thrones, but, well...

If you have a few hours, a few beers, and maybe a good friend to laugh with, it's not time completely wasted.

Very very bad. Feels like a particularly bad episode of Xena or The Seeker. Plot is meaningless and makes no sense. CGI is pathetic. Acting is very unconvincing. Shannen Doherty's career is clearly over.

Again, Sarain Boylan carried the movie. Shannon Doherty is pitiful. Don't get the reason why she's in tv/movies anyway. One eye is about an inch higher than the other.

I watched this movie only because of Shannen Doherty. I love her as an actress. That's why I was thrilled to watch another movie starring her. The movie itself isn't like the best movie ever, but neither is it the worst! Of course the special FX aren't as good, and the story itself isn't my cuppa tea either, but nevertheless the acting was pretty decent and I enjoyed watching it. I wouldn't watch it again however, nor recommending it to anyone. If U like Shannen (as I do), check this movie out, even though she isn't the leading role as I would like. I hope she'll make some new fantastic movies in the future! Overall rating: 7 out of 10

It was with very little expectations that I sat down to watch the 2012 TV movie "Witchslayer Gretl". Why? Well, take a look at the synopsis and the cast ensemble, it just doesn't bode well.

But still, it could be a surprise and actually turn out to be an enjoyable movie. But no, that was not the case. I managed to last probably halfway through this movie before I finally dozed off and fell asleep. And let me say that it had already been a struggle up to the halfway point to stay awake, because the movie was just boring and didn't offer much of anything interesting.

The characters in the movie were two-dimensional and had nothing in terms of being memorable or particularly likable.

And the fact that the storyline was just as predictable as it was uninspiring, just didn't help in favor of the movie.

I awoke to the end credits and I must honestly admit that I have no intentions of returning to finish the last half of the movie, because I saw enough in the first half, and I can pretty much figure out the rest just by guessing, as the movie was that predictable.

The special effects were adequate, although they were on the cheap side of the scale, and that didn't really work out so well for the movie, especially since a fantasy movie should have some believable effects, if not have effects that bedazzle the audience.

For hardcore fans of fairy tales, then I am sure that there is something worthwhile on this alternate approach to the classic tale. But for a regular movie enthusiast, not so much.

Presumably a sequel to the 1812 fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm about a brother & sister and their run-in with a witch in the forests of medieval Germany, Hansel and Gretl (SIC) are now in their late 30s or so. Hansel (Paul McGillion) desperately searches for his sister who was apprehended by a witch queen when they were kids; he teams-up with a former witch, Lara (Sarain Boylan), and the vengeful daughter of a blacksmith, Ehren (Emilie Ullerup). Shannen Doherty is on hand in a vital role and Jefferson Brown plays a warlock.

"Witchslayer Gretl" (2012) was SyFy's knockoff of the big budget "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" (2013), which debuted eleven months later. There were a couple of other mockbusters: The Asylum's "Hansel & Gretel" (2013) and Lionsgate's "Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft" (2013). Witch-themed films were trendy at the time with "Beautiful Creatures" (2013) and, later, "The Last Witch Hunter" (2015), these two being the only ones I've seen before viewing this one.

McGillion looks miserable here, but this can be defended on the grounds that his character demanded an air of grave determination in a life-or-death situation. Doherty is quite good in a double role. Meanwhile Sarain Boylan is spirited and Emilie Ullerup is fetching. You KNOW at least one of these characters is going to be dead by the end and I was quite surprised with who buys the farm; kudos to the writers for having gonads.

I love the sylvan locations and there's a lot of forest action, along with several sequences at a witch grotto, but the movie struck me as cheesy from the get-go. It's like a second-rate meshing of "Grimm's Snow White" (2012), Robin Hood and "First Knight" (1995). (I realize the first one was an Asylum movie, but it was actually quite effective for its low-budget and lousy CGI; and IMHO better than the film it knocked off, "Snow White and the Huntsman"). On the positive side, the spirited Lara won me over by the end and I enjoyed the heartwarming relationships of the protagonists.

The film runs 1 hour, 28 minutes and was might have been shot in Canada since it's a Canadian production (I can't find any info).

GRADE: C/C- (4.5/10)

As a person who loves "so bad that it's good genre", I have a very high tolerance for cheaply made, low budget, badly acted garbage that are so often spat out, especially for straight to TV scene.

This one is pretty dull even for this "genre" though. The best words to describe it are probably dull and uninspiring. The thing that usually saves this kind of movies is sense of fun, which is nowhere to be found here.

The story is very loosely based on old German folk tales and I would want to say... "tries to capture the spirit of fairytale adventure or sword and sorcery tropes" but unfortunately I can not. It seems quite opposite. It seems the production team didn't even try.

Action scenes are very badly made, even for this level of production, story makes little sense and the scenery in which the story unfolds practically doesn't change at all. It's like the whole movie was made on one small location, in someone's backyard.

The acting is not worse than it should be for such a film and all the female actresses look good. Costumes are okey, but all the other props and "cgi" is laughably bad.

Overall, you won't be able to enjoy it even if you're a fan of bad movies.

A grown-up Hansel is hunting witches with his assistant Lara. He rescues Ehren from warlock Abyss but he fears her magic. He would rather kill her but Lara convinces him otherwise. Abyss' queen turns out to be Hansel's long lost sister Gretel (Shannen Doherty) who was taken by a witch and assumed killed.

I only know Paul McGillion as the affable Dr. Carson Beckett from Stargate: Atlantis. This is a completely different role and doesn't fit him. He's not that dark. As with many Syfy shows of that era, this looks cheap and the CGI is cheap. The premise is interesting and there is good potential with these characters. In the end, this is a cheap TV fantasy movie.

A whole lot of running through the woods with everyone trying to figure out who they are and what they're supposed to do. Acting so-so and the dialogue is a bit on the boring side.

Scenery is fine but it's kinda on the dark side inside the Witch Queen's lair. Her familiar as a bit on the Klutzy side and not very believable.

Okay to watch for free but I wouldn't put up a dime otherwise.