Period setting an important character in 'The Witch'
To capture an authentic essence for The Witch, with its 17th-century creepy undertones and terrifying goat Black Phillip, filming it on some Hollywood backlot just wouldn't do the trick.
In this exclusive behind-the-scenes clip from the movie (on Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday), which centers on a 1630s New England family in a Puritan panic when their youngest goes missing in the freaky forest nearby, director Robert Eggers discusses why he filmed The Witch in remote Ontario and put a crucial emphasis on period accuracy.
"We really needed to believe in this world and be super-grounded in it so we could believe in the witch," says the filmmaker.
The setting itself is an important character in The Witch, adds star Anya Taylor-Joy. "When you're walking across a courtyard at night and there are woods framing every side of you, you can't see anything and the house is so dark and not really that homely inside, you can really just imagine people living in this all the time and losing their heads."
Other extras on The Witch Blu-ray/DVD release include a Salem panel Q&A with Eggers and his cast, a featurette on the folklore, design gallery and feature commentary by Eggers.