I’m so happy that Phillip J. Cook keeps making movies. Basing this film on Grace Sherwood, the Witch of Pungo — a historical Virginia woman named Grace Sherwood who was thrown off a boat to see if she was a witch; she was a widow and midwife who neighbors claimed ruined crops and killed animals; Grace untied herself and rose to the surface proving she was a witch. She spent seven years in jail before living out the rest of her life. In 2006, Governor Tim Kaine declared that she was innocent — he takes that legend and creates a new fantasy world, just as he did in Despiser.

The story begins when astrophysicist Grace Sherwood (Cathryn Benson) movies into the home once owned by her ancestor, the historical Grace Sherwood and seeks handyman help from ex-Navy SEAL Bud Hays (Mark Hyde, who is himself an actual Navy SEAL vet and was also one of the Shadowmen and the jumper in Despiser) and fireman Sam Dixon (Matthew Sharpe). While they’re working on her house, Bud sees his dead daughter and Sam sees a mysterious woman. This is just the opening, as soon they take a Wizard of Oz type trip to another place where the witch version of Grace rules the world and even has gigantic tree creatures and an entire army ready to destroy anyone who keeps her from meeting her ancestor.

What Cook always gets right is that his budget is just enough for the effects, but he also knows that the things that don’t cost money — emotion, camera angles, characters that you care about — need to be in the movie. When we have those, we forgive when the effects aren’t perfect. Actually, in the world of his movies, I appreciate that they don’t feel like they’re from our world or from today’s cinema. They exist nearly in their own genre, movies that cost less than a car but take your imagination to so many places. I’ve thought back to this movie several times over the days and weeks since I watched it, remembering moments from it, thinking about the characters within it and wondering what happens next for them.

Sure, not all the plot threads add up and yeah, you may find a plot hole or two. But this is a handmade film. Overlook the cynical way that you usually watch movies and just sit back and let this film entertain you.

Cook has been making movies since it was a big deal to get them released on VHS or shown on the SciFi channel, before it was SyFy. The fact that he’s still making movies like this and controlling his own means of production is proof that good things can still happen in this world.

You can watch this on Tubi.