Hansel and Gretel Get Baked (2013)

One of the common trends of movie making in the current day and age is that when a movie is being made, other companies will try and find a way to get their share of the profits from it.  This usually happens with movies that sound like they will be successful ventures.  I’ve discussed this trend before.  It leads to other movies being made that are cashing in on this potential success created by the first movie.  In the case of early 2013, one of the most notorious occurrences of this trend involved Hansel and Gretel.  With the release of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters came the release of three other Hansel and Gretel themed films.  There was Hansel and Gretel, a film released by the studio The Asylum.  There was also Hansel and Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft.  Then there was the movie that I’m going to be writing about in this post.  That movie was Hansel and Gretel Get Baked.

Hansel and Gretel Get Baked is a modern retelling of the classic Hansel and Gretel tale.  Set in 2013, Hansel (played by Michael Welch) and Gretel (Molly C. Quinn) are a brother and sister that live together.  As Gretel and her boyfriend Ashton (Andrew James Allen) relax with some marijuana, they are brought into the world of a cannabis growing witch (Lara Flynn Boyle) who eats people in order to look younger.  This all comes together to create a wild mixture of horror and dark comedy.

The thing that most holds back Hansel and Gretel Get Baked is the name.  It is easy to see why they chose the name for the film.  The subject matter involved marijuana and by inserting “Get Baked” into the title, the potential viewers will know that there is material of that sort in the movie.  There is also a secondary meaning to the title if you know the story of Hansel and Gretel.  The “Get Baked” portion of the title could refer to the oven that is a large centerpiece to the entire tale.   The double meaning of the title is a good enough reason to choose it, but the title is as much trouble for the movie as it was a smart move.  As the person writing the Sunday “Bad” Movie blog posts, I sometimes throw movies into the watch list based purely on the title.  Sometimes a title sounds so utterly ridiculous that I feel compelled to add it in.  That was the case when it came to Hansel and Gretel Get Baked.  The name sounded absurd, and for most people, it probably sounded like something that they would never want to watch.  That does a disservice when the title is given to a good film.  A good film with a poor title could go unwatched and never receive the attention that it deserves.  I, however, have seen it and am currently giving it the recognition that it deserves.

If I were to highlight the thing that surprised me the most about Hansel and Gretel Get Baked, it would be how satisfying the horror aspects of the film actually are.  The story of Hansel and Gretel really lends itself to a horror genre retelling.  The entire concept is a horrific tale.  Two children who are lost in the woods run into a witch with a cannibalistic hunger.  Horror is the ideal genre in which this story can be told.  Hansel and Gretel Get Baked takes note of this and turns the modern retelling of the tale into a suitably terrifying adaptation.  The scenes of gore and dread are aided by an excellent performance from Lara Flynn Boyle.  It is easy to see the fun that she is having as the wicked villain of the movie.  Every time she is on screen, Hansel and Gretel Get Baked gets a dose of adrenaline that does not diminish.  The movie only gets more enjoyable as it goes on.

There is also an exceptional dark sense of humour to be found within Hansel and Gretel Get Baked.  I did not expect this from the title of the film.  I went into the movie expecting jokes directed toward the stoner crowd.  There was some of that in the movie, but there were a good amount of laughs that came out of the darker moments.  Not getting into any specifics, the deaths within the film are not only gruesome to witness, but they have an air of comedy to them that creates an interesting tonal texture.  As a viewer, I appreciated having a lightness to the darkness that twisted the material in ways that I wouldn’t anticipate.  Hansel and Gretel Get Baked kept me on my toes.  There were very few moments that I could guess before they happened.  The story was familiar, but the individual beats within the story were original and fun to experience.

I had a great time watching Hansel and Gretel Get Baked.  It was a solid little movie that both thrilled me and chilled me.  I can only suggest that anyone reading this who is even mildly interested in it after reading what I’ve had to say go out and watch the movie.  Make up your own mind on how you feel about it.  I do think that it is well worth a watch.

There are some notes that I would like to make before you leave:

•  Lara Flynn Boyle was also in another Sunday "Bad" Movie.  It was Baby's Day Out.
• If you have any suggestions for future Sunday "Bad" Movies, you can comment below or tell me on Twitter.  I welcome every suggestions, and give it consideration for a future Sunday "Bad" Movie.