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Many films try and fail to pull off the kind of densely over-plotted action-fantasy that director Breck Eisner (" The Crazies ," " Sahara ") nails in "The Last Witch Hunter." The secrets to Eisner's success are confidence and patience, both of which compensate for the film's script whenever it becomes embarrassingly thin (especially during its rushed finale). Still, if nothing else, "The Last Witch Hunter" is so much more adept than other recent convoluted post-" The Matrix " adventure films about a superhuman men-of-action ( Vin Diesel , in this case) who see the world for what it really is, and are humanity's last hope of maintaining a peaceful status quo. While most other films sprint through expository dialogue, and bluster their way through action scenes, "The Last Witch Hunter" is measured enough to make you want to suspend your disbelief.

An especially charming Diesel plays Kaulder, a witch-slayer who was cursed to live forever by the Witch Queen ( Julie Engelbrecht ) back in ye olde viking days. An integral member of the mortal-led witch-hunting organization Axe and Cross, Kaulder has grown full of himself after centuries of walking the Earth unchallenged. But when Ellic ( Michael Caine ), Kaulder's sidekick and the chronicler of his stories, dies on the day of his retirement, Kaulder investigates, and discovers a plot to revive the centuries-dead Witch Queen.

Here's where "The Last Witch Hunter" starts to get so dorky that you may want to give yourself a wedgie for enjoying it. In order to stop the Witch Queen, Kaulder must "remember [his] death," a clue left for him by Ellic in smudged fingerprints all over one of Ellic's most prized books. The Rolodex of enemies and fair weather contacts that Kaulder meets up with on his rocky road to remembering is embarrassingly preposterous. Their ranks include Max Schlesinger (Isaach De Bankolé), a blind pastry chef-cum-magician who makes cupcakes out of psychedelic moths, butterflies, and maggots, and Belilal ( Ólafur Darri Ólafsson ), a squat, curse-slinging warlock whose bushy beard and barrel chest makes him look like one of ZZ Top's touring bassists.

What makes this scenario work are the periodic flashes of intelligence that prove that the film's trio of screenwriters  thought about what motivates Kaulder. Diesel's usual cockiness suits his character. As he points out to Dolan the 37th ( Elijah Wood ), Ellic's successor at Axe and Cross, there's nothing he hasn't seen. Diesel is well-used in that sense, proving he's more than a blunt instrument in scenes where he huskily broods and sweet-talks his way around the film's most unwieldy exposition. Few action stars can convincingly mansplain their way through a scene where mystic rune stones that control the elements are used to stop and start a thunderstorm. Diesel is on the short list. 

There are even fewer directors who are sensitive enough to sell scenes as conceptually all-over-the-map as the ones showcased here. But thanks to Eisner, there are blessedly few scenes in "The Last Witch Hunter" that feel rushed (can we please get this guy to direct the upcoming "Doctor Strange" movie's sequel?). Romantic banter  feels genuinely playful in scenes like when Kaulder and Chloe ( Rose Leslie ), a young witch, flirt at Chloe's hookah bar. There aren't nearly enough scenes where Eisner can flex his muscles and prove that he's a stronger storyteller than the script with which he's working; the best is probably when Chloe comes home and silently tries to ward off a threatening spirit with an array of light bulbs. This scene teaches you how to watch it. No character has to explain that the bulbs' light is Chloe's only defense against whatever is threatening to invade her home. You just pick up that knowledge by watching Eisner work.

Eisner's direction is similarly thoughtful during big special-effects-driven set pieces. He's a sturdy choreographer, and none of the big action scenes in "The  Last Witch Hunter" are as good as those from his surprisingly atmospheric, recent remake of George Romero's "The Crazies." But flashbacks to Diesel's "Dungeons and Dragons"-worthy encounters with the Witch Queen and modern-day skirmishes with Belial do look good, and that's not just because of Eisner's keen eye for composition. "The Last Witch Hunter" is just generally poised in ways that most fantasies should be, but aren't. There's breathing room in scenes where characters have to appear to be living with decisions they made a couple of scenes earlier. You know you're seeing an atypically dopey but consummately well-assembled fantasy when poor Michael Caine has to explain to viewers the Witch Queen's plan to spread a human-decimating plague using the various witches that Kaulder locked up over the years in the Axe and Cross's "witch prison." "The Last Witch Hunter" may be corny at heart, but it's cool enough to convince you otherwise while its creators sell you a story you've seen some iteration of many, many times before.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

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The Last Witch Hunter (2015)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.

106 minutes

Vin Diesel as Kaulder

Rose Leslie as Chloe

Michael Caine as Dolan 36th

Elijah Wood as Dolan 37th

Julie Engelbrecht as Witch Queen

Lotte Verbeek as Helena

Isaach de Bankolé as Schlesinger

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Belial

Bex Taylor-Klaus as Bronwyn

Allegra Carpenter as Fatima

Aimee Carrero as Miranda

Armani Jackson as Armani

Samara Lee as Little Girl

Stephanie Bertoni as Wall Street Witch

Inbar Lavi as Sonia

• Breck Eisner
• Cory Goodman
• Matt Sazama
• Burk Sharpless

Cinematographer

• Dean Semler
• Steve Jablonsky
• Chris Lebenzon
• Dean Zimmerman

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Film Review: ‘The Last Witch Hunter’

The title should prove prophetic for this dreary, CGI-infested occult thriller, starring Vin Diesel as an immortal enemy of evil.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

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One of the trickier tasks Vin Diesel ‘s eponymous hero faces in “ The Last Witch Hunter ” is tracking a villain by his signature scent of “moldering crabapples” — a distinctive enough fragrance in its own right, but hard to separate from the generally funky aroma of decomposition that permeates Breck Eisner ‘s limp, lame-brained occult thriller. Too drab to succeed even as defiantly unvirtuous trash,  this era-straddling tale of an immortal medieval warrior protecting modern-day New York from a Black Death reboot stifles Diesel‘s rough-hewn charisma via a sludgy, impermeable oil spill of CGI effects — in the service of largely unspectacular hocus pocus. Despite a pre-Halloween release date, the pic is more gung-ho than gooseflesh-inclined in genre; either way, it’s unlikely to mint the franchise threatened by its eminently welcome ending. 

Commercially, given the extraordinary expanding cultural impact of the “Fast and Furious” series, “The Last Witch Hunter” might expect to ride on Diesel fumes to an extent. Yet if its aim is to reposition him as a solo action star, perhaps re-engaging the dwindling audience for the “Riddick” films, this new vehicle doesn’t really play to his strengths — despite being developed and co-produced by the actor himself. Barring an early (and swiftly discarded) reference to his character’s prowess as a ladies’ man, there’s precious little room here for Diesel’s lunkish, slightly self-parodic streak of humor. And if it’s hard to buy the star as a 14th-century soldier of the Catholic Church, earnestly slaying sorceresses for 700 years without a wrinkle to show for it, the screenplay (bearing evident redrafting scars from a trio of scribes) doesn’t make much of an effort to sell the idea.

For starters, it’s uncertain where our noble witch-hunter, Kaulder, actually comes from: Based on scant evidence in the pre-credit prologue, let’s say it’s the little-remembered European land of Snowsylvania, though eight centuries has been long enough for him to adopt Diesel’s trademark gravelly drawl. It’s probably unwise to demand more detailed a milieu from a film that claims the Black Death plague of 1346-53 was in fact foisted upon humanity by a vindictive Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht, or what’s left of her beneath a maggoty digital mask) bent on total human eradication. Luckily, Kaulder — sporting a braided beard and luscious undercut that would not be out of place in contemporary Williamsburg — has our backs, wasting the Queen in a murky introductory battle. Not before she afflicts him with the curse of immortality, however, thus consigning him to a lonely life of winnowing out her mangy kind, haunted by the memory of his long-perished wife and daughter.

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He looks good on it, though, even if the on-trend locks are swiftly sacrificed for Diesel’s standard minimalist coiffure. In present-day Manhattan, he lives in relatively comfortable torment in a plush Upper East Side loft, seducing the occasional air stewardess and accepting international witch-hunting assignments from a succession of priestly advisers known as Dolans. The latest of these, Dolan 36th, takes the typically jovial form of Michael Caine, whose helpfully explanatory voiceover is unceremoniously dropped shortly after it begins — and shortly before he’s dispatched to his coffin in mysterious circumstances.

Suspecting foul play, specifically of the “fair is foul and foul is fair” variety, Kaulder begins the search for the Weird Sister responsible, with Dolan’s dormouse-like successor (Elijah Wood, decidedly under-burdened) in tow. From here on, the investigation plays out not unlike a super-sized episode of “Murder, She Wrote,” only with more shape-shifting ghouls and fire-strewn showdowns between good and evil. He also happens upon a spunky good-witch ally in dark-arts club owner Chloe (cannily cast “Games of Thrones” alum Rose Leslie), whose initial surliness and plethora of Hot Topic accessories conceal a rare command of “dream-walking,” a strain of mind-altering white magic. As they follow the breadcrumb trail around a city that seems markedly oblivious to the insect tornadoes and snaking “plague trees” springing up overnight — Pittsburgh fills in unsteadily for the Big Apple, though it’s not the least credible performance here — it becomes clear that the long-vanquished Queen has returned for another crack at earthly domination.

Offering auds nary a wink to the dim absurdity of his mission, Diesel trudges dourly through the proceedings, practically expectorating dialogue that is, in fairness, pretty hard to play with. (“They took all the most powerful witches in the world and put them in one place,” observes one character. “The witch prison,” comes the memorable response.) Leslie brings glimmers of gumption to her conveniently abled sidekick role; she at least appears to be having more fun than formidable thesps like Rena Owen (“Once Were Warriors”), as a stern member of an underground witch-control council, and, most bizarrely, Isaach De Bankole as a blind Ivorian bakery owner and mystic herb merchant named — for reasons of apparent script inflexibility — Max Schlesinger. Perhaps he could have swapped roles with Caine, who appears to be doing some less supernatural dream-walking of his own in several scenes.

There are certainly enough dopey diversions here for “The Last Witch Hunter” to be considerably more fun than it is, but even its most extravagant bouts of silliness are hampered by desultory plotting and Eisner’s oppressively synthetic mise-en-scene. Dean Semler’s lensing has a dull slickness that mostly defers to the pic’s Marmite-colored morass of visual effects, which are somehow as tawdry-looking as they are conceptually elaborate. The pic’s climactic face-off between human and Hexan is a particular letdown, heavily recycling both the character conflicts and the cockroach-and-brimstone imagery of the intro; it’s hard not to wish that Kaulder had simply done a more thorough job 700 years ago and spared us all the trouble. “Can you feel it — your life, your mortality — ebbing away?” bellows the Queen Witch in her final fight. Whether she’s addressing Kaulder or the audience is open to question.

Reviewed at Dolby Screening Room, London, Oct. 19, 2015. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 106 MIN.

• Production: A Summit Entertainment (in U.S.)/Entertainment One (in U.K.) release of a Mark Canton, One Race Films, Goldmann Pictures production in association with Tik Films. Produced by Mark Canton, Vin Diesel, Bernie Goldmann. Executive producers, Adam Goldworm, Samantha Vincent, Ric Kidney, Qiyun Long. Co-producers, Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber.
• Crew: Directed by Breck Eisner. Screenplay, Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless. Camera (color), Dean Semler; editors, Dean Zimmerman, Chris Lebenzon; music, Steve Jablonsky; production designer, Julie Berghoff; art director, Randy Moore; costume designer, Luca Mosca; sound (Dolby Digital), Christopher Strollo; supervising sound editor, Peter Brown; re-recording mixers, Joe Dzuban, Mark Paterson; visual effects supervisor, Nicholas Brooks; visual effects, Rodeo FX, Cinesite, Method Studios; stunt coordinators, Jonathan Eusebio, Troy Robinson; line producers, Mike Upton, Marilyn Napaul; associate producers, Mark Cotone, F. Valentino Morales; assistant director, Cotone; second unit director, Mac Carter; second unit camera, Patrick Loungway; casting, John Papsidera.
• With: Vin Diesel, Elijah Wood, Rose Leslie, Julie Engelbrecht, Michael Caine, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Isaach De Bankole, Rena Owen, Joseph Gilgun, Dawn Oliveri, Lotte Verbeek, Sloane Coombs, Michael Halsey, Inbar Levi, Armani Jackson.

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‘the last witch hunter’: film review.

Vin Diesel stars in this fantasy-action extravaganza as an immortal warrior battling witches and warlocks in contemporary New York.

By Stephen Dalton

Stephen Dalton

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Clearly aiming to be the first chapter in a big-budget action franchise, Vin Diesel ‘s latest star vehicle is a $90 million supernatural thriller which proves to be as good as it needs to be, but no more. The Last Witch Hunter methodically ticks a checklist of fan-friendly boxes, from its heavy dependence on visual effects to its international cast of fantasy genre veterans including Michael Caine , Elijah Wood and Game of Thrones alumni Rose Leslie . Producing as well as starring, the 47-year-old Diesel casts himself in an indestructible hero whose immortal bad-ass status recalls previous blockbuster folklore reboots like Highlander, Blade and Underworld . If there’s something evil in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Witch Hunter!

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The director is Breck Eisner , son of former Disney CEO Michael, who struggles to wring much sense or wit from an overcooked script which is more mythological than logical. Having replaced Timur Bekmambetov ( Night Watch , Wanted ) on the project, Breck does a solid journeyman job, but a nagging suspicion lingers that the Russian action auteur might have goosed up this formulaic material with more of his signature visual flair and gonzo energy. That said, The Last Witch Hunter tickles enough fanboy pleasure zones to lure the vast global army who made Diesel’s Riddick and Fast and Furious franchises into a multi-billion-dollar business.

The Bottom Line <p><span style="font-size: 12px;">Big on spectacle but low on magic.</span></p>

Diesel stars as Kaulder , a grieving father cursed with immortality by the Witch Queen ( Julie Engelbrecht ) who unleashed the Black Death on mankind way back in the Middle Ages, killing his wife and daughter. Strikingly shot in a vast snowy wilderness, this origin story opens the movie and later becomes a recurring motif in flashback. Diesel’s wild hair-and-beard combo in these scenes, falling somewhere between Brooklyn hipster and Norwegian death metal guitarist, brings a welcome note of accidental camp comedy to an otherwise largely mirth-free movie.

Fast forward 800 years to present-day New York (mostly Pittsburgh standing in) and Kaulder is now a clean-shaven, bullet-headed, sharp-dressed witch hunter working for a shadowy organization called the Axe and Cross, which appears to be a secret paramilitary wing of the Catholic church. Think Men In Black , but scripted by Dan Brown . Though a fragile centuries-old truce keeps most witches from meddling in human affairs, some nefarious necromantics still break the rules. Naturally, between missions, Kaulder is also something of an irresistible playboy womanizer with a palatial apartment overlooking Central Park, a personal armory of kick-ass weapons including a flaming sword, and a flashy new Aston Martin. Diesel’s pitch to become the next James Bond starts here.

The contemporary storyline begins with the sudden death of Kaulder’s longtime friend and mentor Dolan the 36th , reliably played by Caine in grandfatherly post- Batman mode. After sniffing out evidence of black magic, the witch hunter teams up with Dolan’s young successor Dolan the 37th (Wood) and benign white witch Chloe (Leslie) in a race against time to track down a powerful Nordic warlock called Belial ( Olafur Darri   Olafsson ) who plans to resurrect the Witch Queen and unleash a fresh global plague. Ding, dong! The witch is not dead. Thus the stage is set for an apocalyptic second showdown between Kaulder and his evil nemesis. And this time it’s personal.

The one truly impressive thing about Diesel’s acting skills is how he has achieved so much with so little. All smirk and bicep, he was once earmarked as the natural successor to Bruce Willis . But more recently he seems to have settled comfortably into Steven Segal mode, a walking bag of boiled ham whose expressive range barely extends beyond sleepy-eyed, guttural grunts. In The Last Witch Hunter, he acts opposite an immobile corpse and a wooden tree monster, yet still somehow manages to be stiffer than both. In fairness, these limitations are unlikely to deter the movie’s action-fan target demographic. Still, having such a wooden lead playing such a one-dimensional hero definitely makes it less appealing for casual movie goers.

In its favor, The Last Witch Hunter boasts some terrific production design and digital effects, notably the Witch Queen’s lair and a creature called the Sentinel, both nightmarish pagan constructions of shape-shifting wood and bone. A couple of late plot twists also feel refreshingly left-field, even if they are shameless signposts for future sequels. Less impressively, Eisner’s movie is clogged with cardboard characters, flat dialogue and a sluggish middle act that gets lost in too much fabricated witchy folklore. Steve Jablonsky ‘s ever-present, over-insistent orchestral score also grates on the nerves before long. Fast and furious on the surface, shallow and conventional beneath, Diesel’s bid to carve himself another billion-dollar franchise is off to a good start with this mainstream crowd-pleaser.

Production companies: Atmosphere Productions, One Race Films, Goldmann Pictures, Neoreel , Summit Entertainment, Aperture Entertainment

Cast: Vin Diesel, Michael Caine , Elijah Wood, Rose Leslie, Julie Engelbrecht , Ólafur Darri Ólafsson

Director: Breck Eisner

Screenwriters: Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama , Burk Sharpless

Producers: Mark Canton , Vin Diesel, Bernie Goldmann

Cinematographer: Dean Semler

Editors: Chris Lebenzon , Dean Zimmerman

Visual effects supervisor: Nicholas Brooks

Music: Steve Jablonsky

Rated PG13 , 99 minutes

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The Last Witch Hunter Reviews

Operates in a series of tropes and clichés, neither improving nor innovating upon them.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | May 3, 2022

Diesel is fast and furious enough to deliver the Conan the Barbarian level dialogue ('The benefit of eternal life is that I get to kill you twice!') with conviction but the movie is dull enough you'll wish these witches would go away for a spell.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 4, 2021

The Last Witch Hunter is a bland attempt at franchise filmmaking. It's not entirely dull, but there's very little about it that's exciting, either.

Full Review | Jul 17, 2020

Gonzo fantasy adventure in an over the top way you rarely encounter anymore.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 3, 2020

The best thing that one can say about The Last Witch Hunter is that it's original. It's still crap, but at least you've never seen crap quite like this before.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 18, 2019

As an exercise in D&D-like world building, The Last Witch Hunter largely succeeds. But as an engaging action movie, it falters.

Full Review | Jan 28, 2019

The real sinful hex at large that some unsuspecting moviegoers will ultimately suffer is succumbing to the laughable supernatural spell that The Last Witch Hunter will cast in insufferable, confusing fashion.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 9, 2018

For a movie about an immortal bald man killing witches in modern day New York, it still feels far too bland.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Nov 1, 2018

There are worse ways to spend 100 minutes, and if you can shut your brain off and enjoy the ride, you may just find yourself liking The Last Witch Hunter.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 31, 2018

You can accuse Diesel of playing an immortal version of Dominic Cooper, his character from The Fast and the Furious films, and you would be exactly right. His character is dry and the line delivery flat.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 14, 2018

Last Witch Hunter is basically nonstop fun, with a fast pace and a total willingness to laugh at itself. And not only is there nothing wrong with that, there's everything right with it.

Full Review | May 21, 2018

The Last Witch Hunter might be the worst video game adaptation not actually based on a video game

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 4, 2017

I was cursed with having to watch this buttock-numbing twaddle, through which you spend most of the time wondering which is worse -- the truly appalling script or the dreadful supporting performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 26, 2017

A movie like this really needs a more charming lead that can play the badness for laughs, like Bruce Campbell, but instead we're stuck watching Vin Diesel take his weekend LARP tournament very, very seriously.

Full Review | Oct 14, 2017

A bunch of bizarre-for-the-sake-of-being-imaginative stuff happens in The Last Witch Hunter, much of it making little sense, and some of it that probably made sense but I hadn't the energy to figure it out.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/10 | Aug 4, 2016

Although it's doubtful that The Last Witch Hunter will become a cult favorite like The Chronicles of Riddick, it's still a fairly enjoyable way to spend 98 minutes.

Full Review | Jul 19, 2016

Diesel is definitely not the kind of actor who can effortlessly coast through a film by dint of his rakish wit and charm. He needs a vehicle (ahem) that plays to his strengths. The Last Witch Hunter is definitely not such a vehicle.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jun 12, 2016

Even the considerable talents of Elijah Wood and Michael Caine cannot make this any more than another flick in which biceps give black magic a beatdown.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 24, 2016

The film's world-building suffers from too much ambiguity in the characters' motives and history (presumably saving them for a possible sequel), and the intricacies of the world are glossed over, making it all feel lifeless and fabricated.

Full Review | May 9, 2016

The often incoherent and repetitive plot doesn't have enough thrilling action to redeem its other shortcomings.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 3, 2016

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The Last Witch Hunter review – can Vin Diesel defeat misogynist idiocy? Nope

Diesel plays a man of action, not ideas, as he leads a brotherhood of bad-women slayers in this dismal film

D id Vin Diesel watch the 2013 film Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and say to his associates in that trademark rumbly voice: “Yeah. I want to make an action-thriller on a witch-hunting theme as well, though obviously I can’t aspire to being as good as that film with Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as Hansel and Gretel.” Or did Diesel point to a shelf of books about the history of witchcraft and rumble to his colleagues: “Yeah. Witch-hating is a misogynist paranoid phenomenon. So let’s deconstruct that satirically with a film starring me as a macho witch hunter battling an evil female.”

In this dismal and dull film, Diesel plays Kaulder, a guy who has been alive for 800 years, on an eternal mission to fight the witches who live secretly among us. They are the bad witches, you understand, who have infringed a peace-accord understanding with good witches policed by an ancient brotherhood of priests, among whom is Dolan, played by Michael Caine, and a younger priest, also called Dolan (Elijah Wood) whose dog collar gets later secularised into a white polo-neck. Kaulder is not unaware of the controversies associated with witch-hunting. He says solemnly: “Salem was wrong.” Wow. Thanks for that, Kaulder. Yet he is a man of action, not ideas, and gets it on with a pert female flight attendant in his hotel room, the kind of move you may associate more with Austin Powers.

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The Last Witch Hunter review

Vin Diesel gets what could be the start of a new action fantasy franchise with The Last Witch Hunter. Here's our review...

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Director Breck Eisner’s 2010 remake of George Romero’s  The Crazies was far better made and considered than it might otherwise have been, so it makes sense that he’s managed to turn what might have been a pot-boiling action fantasy into a visually-arresting and fun vehicle for growling action man Vin Diesel.

As a contrast, take a look at 2011’s Season Of The Witch as an example of how badly an effects-heavy fantasy movie can go wrong; Nicolas Cage looked glum underneath his lank Cher wig, Ron Perlman was given little to do and the numerous sword fights and the screaming necromancer of a plot failed to add up to a hill of beans.

The Last Witch Hunter largely succeeds because it’s aware of its remit as a big daft multiplex filler, its performances are sparky and fun, and also because its engaging production design provides plenty of baroque visuals to keep things interesting. Vin Diesel plays Kaulder, an immortal witch hunter from ancient times (the last of the witch hunters, funnily enough) who’s still battling evil in present-day New York. As in  Highlander , Kaulder’s immortality is as much a curse as a gift; adrift in time, he has no close friends other than Father Dolan (Michael Caine), the latest in a procession of holy men whose job is to serve as an Alfred Pennyworth to Kaulder’s Bruce Wayne.

Kaulder’s an old soul who’s embraced modernity. His expensive flat overlooking Central Park is full of priceless objects he’s collected on his witch hunting exploits down the ages, all arranged tastefully around a sleekly-designed pool table. Kaulder keeps an ancient runes in one pocket and a smartphone in the other; he’s as likely to tote a shotgun in the screaming face of evil as brandish a sword.

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Eisner (and credited screenwriters Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless) imagine New York as a magical-realist labyrinth where white and black magic are still practiced behind the slick facade of corporate buildings and coffee chains. A cake store is a front for some kind of inexplicable magic circle involving maggots and butterflies. A plush private wine bar run by young witch Chloe ( Game Of Thrones’ Rose Leslie) lets its customers get high on phantasmagorical cocktails.

It’s Kaulder’s job to keep a lid on the city’s underground magical element, punishing witches (male and female) who break the laws of an ancient council, the Axe and Cross. But when Father Dolan is suddenly gripped by a curse placed on his head, Kaulder has to join forces with Chloe and his new handler, the 37th Dolan (Elijah Wood) to discover who cast the evil spell.

What begins as an earthy riff on Robert E Howard – all beards, robes and flashing swords in a witch’s underground lair – soon gives way to a contemporary fantasy akin to Guillermo del Toro’s first Hellboy. Diesel, as ruggedly benign as always, presents himself as a kind of sword-wielding detective, examining crime scenes and apparently ordinary situations for the hidden presence of evil. His past has seen him rub shoulders with Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin, we’re told, but these day’s he spends more of his time sniffing out more mundane forms of black magic. One early scene set on a transatlantic flight sees him hunt down a young, irresponsible magic dabbler with little more than a glass of water and a paperclip.

To return to the Batman analogy established earlier, Diesel plays the Detective Comics version of the hero here – a character who can get on the trail of a bad guy just from the vague whiff of garlic and rotten crab apples. The Last Witch Hunter is at its most fun when it simply follows Kaulder around on his breadcrumb trail of clues, Breck Eisner cheerfully throwing in the odd modern fairytale flourish like a kid being lured in by a magical tree which grows gummy bears, or the flash of a hulking monster made from human skulls and the jagged remains of old trees.

The movie doesn’t give much of a role to Caine – he’s in the role of wise old mentor, yet again – nor does Elijah Wood have a great deal to do other than stammer and stare saucer-eyed off-camera as he did in The Lord Of The Rings. It’s Rose Leslie who steals the film as Chloe, the dream-invading Brit witch who could probably have shouldered the story all by herself. But this is Diesel’s vehicle, and there’s a sparky, pleasant chemistry between he and Leslie. Look out, too, for Joseph Gilgun in a small yet engagingly bonkers role.

Things grow less interesting as the mysteries give way to blazing battles of CGI fire, swords and buckshot, and it has to be said that all the sumptuous production design in the world can’t hide the fact that the final third is very grey and underlit. But then again, there’s enough imagination and chemistry in The Last Witch Hunter to make it worth recommending; its Highlander-like action feels like something from an era before studios started building universes and multi-picture franchises. Like Kaulder, The Last Witch Hunter is a movie from another time – which might be why it feels so unexpectedly refreshing.

The Last Witch Hunter is out in UK cinemas on the 21st October.

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The Last Witch Hunter Review

By Joshua Starnes

5 out of 10 

The Last Witch Hunter Cast:

Vin Diesel as Kaulder Rose Leslie as Chloe Elijah Wood as Dolan 37th Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Belial Rena Owen as Glaeser Julie Engelbrecht as Witch Queen Michael Caine as Dolan 36 th  

Introducing new and enticing fantasy requires juggling two competing imperatives, both necessary and neither particularly useful to the other. On the one hand they must perform the most elementary function of all successful fiction — creating engaging characters an audience will identify with. Characters like the enigmatic Kaulder ( Vin Diesel ), an 800-year old man who deals with the existential burden of immortality by focusing on work – in his case hunting down and killing witches. 

There’s a lot of ground to be covered by mining the inner life of someone who innately views the human experience from an alien perspective (and The Last Witch Hunter is at its best when it does so), but the film has its hands too full for that. Because it’s also urban fantasy story with magic and monsters and mythology, it has to spend considerable time building the world Kaulder and his friends live in and the rules they abide by.

Theoretically, there’s no reason why these imperatives should be competing at all, but the reality is a feature film has a limited time frame in which to deliver all the necessary information for understanding it. It encourages efficiency of storytelling, attaching important character elements to import world-building concepts so that both can be introduced together, which is a good idea when it works and a bad one when it doesn’t.

And it doesn’t work here as is clear from the first voice over from Kaulder’s long-time helper Dolan (Caine) explaining the rules of the secret world of magic the two of them police which the film doesn’t have time to show because of an extended action open. The lack of cohesion in action, character and story is Witch Hunter ’s most consistent feature such that most characters’ dialogue is entirely expositional explaining some new wrinkle in the rules of the world without any sort of emotional connection to it.

They’re not helped by the fact that much of Witch Hunter is a fantastic police procedural, which requires its own steady diet of expositional information to keep moving forward, as Kaulder pulls out all the stops to find the person who appears to have murdered his old friend.

Diesel himself is immune to a lot of the problems as he gets to sprinkle his statements on how magic works with the odd insightful musing on the very human nature of evil. It’s about as close to characterization as Witch Hunter gets, though it’s stymied by an inability to engage with Kaulder’s extended past because it is directly tied to the mystery of who attacked his friend.

Looking for clues from his first encounter with the Witch Queen (Engelbrecht), Kaulder tracks down a Dreamwalker (Leslie), a witch who specializes in entering someone else’s mind and rummaging around in it. In the hands of the films writer’s what should be at most a single sentence of explanation becomes the essence of the character, her dark secret which when exposed means nothing to the audience because regular people have no personal experience with being Dreamwalkers.

The rest of the cast is in very much the same boat trying to make the material sound affecting, but the characters are what they do and no more which makes them conduits for the plot and nothing else.

If the ideas behind the world were compelling enough, either unique or extremely primal, they could make up for those shortcomings or at least hide them during initial viewings. But they’re not. It’s a secret world of magic and magic users lying just beneath everyday Manhattan with a council that makes the rules and some sort of helping hand from the Catholic Church: no one involved seems interested in stretching the established parameters of urban fantasy.

It’s also a noticeably empty world; there is seldom anyone in a given scene but Diesel and one or two other actors. It enhances the unreality of Witch Hunter ’s world while decreasing its scale – it’s hard to be epic when there are only three or four people around at any given time.

Nor are the set pieces themselves, what few there are, particularly memorable. Occasionally it coalesces into a decent meld of world building and action, primarily in the first encounter with warlock Belial (Ólafsson) at the Dream Bar, but like the other action moments it’s over before it’s begun.

The one exception is the extended finale as Kaulder delves into the ancient Witch prison to face his ancient enemy once and for all. Set in the caverns beneath Kaulder’s church headquarters where prisoners are kept it is a dark and dank finale where little can be seen and what can doesn’t seem worth it, filled with some of the film’s weakest visual effects and wire work.

The Last Witch Hunter isn’t terrible by any stretch of the imagination and there are moments when it overcomes its worst instincts to give a glimpse of the movie the filmmakers were probably trying to make. Diesel can hold a screen and he is completely comfortable with Kaulder’s informed outlook of urbanity and competence and odd humanism. But there’s a balance which must be found to make one of these things work, or lacking that at least either the fantasy or character elements must shine through. When both sides fail (increasingly the case as more and more fantasy is brought to the screen), the basic skeleton of the story is at obvious odds with itself and not all of the charismatic actors in the world will keep the outcome from feeling like it lasts forever.

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Jeremy Renner Details Why He Left Mission: Impossible & If He Would Ever Return

A simple favor’s netflix success is a great reminder to watch this underrated $123 million rom-com from 2019, all 8 villains played by jean-claude van damme, ranked, dazzling visuals and fun supernatural brawls can't save  the last witch hunter  from a cliché plot and uneven vin diesel performance..

Centuries back, a ruthless dark magic wielder, the Witch Queen, unleashed the Black Death on humanity - killing millions. To protect humankind, a group of valiant warriors journeyed into the Witch's den to destroy the Queen and her coven. Many were killed in the battle but one man, Kaulder (Vin Diesel), who had lost his wife and daughter to the Black Death, managed to subdue the Queen. However, as Kaulder delivered a fatal blow, the witch cursed him with eternal life - before she crumbled into ash.

Unable to die, Kaulder and his holy parters, the Dolans, spent the next seven centuries hunting dark magic wielders and other evil creatures. Thanks to Kaulder's tireless work, a tenuous peace is brokered between the Dolans and good witches who want to co-exist, unseen, with humans. Together, the witch counsel and the Dolans wield Kaulder as a weapon against threats to humanity and witchkind alike - until a malevolent coven appears in modern day New York City, intent on unleashing a second plague, and ushering in a new age of dark magic.

In a time when most films are remakes, reboots, or sequels to established franchises, The Last Witch Hunter  attempts an original supernatural story - albeit one that borrows familiar cliches and tropes from prior action-horror films (as well as Diesel's own Dungeons and Dragons  game character, Melkor). Director Breck Eisner ( Sahara and The Crazies ) crafts an imaginative world, full of arresting imagery and intriguing mythology; sadly, that foundation is undermined by melodrama, unconvincing performances, and underwhelming plot "twists."  The Last Witch Hunter offers enough slick action and sharp visuals to warrant a trip to the theater for supernatural horror and/or Vin Diesel fans but casual filmgoers will have trouble finding enough redeeming value (or overall invention) in Eisner's movie.

Even though The Last Witch Hunter story is "original," it's also an extremely run-of-the-mill tale at every turn. Audiences will predict most plot beats and character arcs ahead of onscreen reveals. The world-building, both lore and visual imagery, is The Last Witch Hunter 's most memorable contribution - with horrifying creature designs that make the dark witches downright frightening. As a result, where the film's storyline is a passable (but half-cooked) impression of superior supernatural hunter tales, the depiction of its malevolent baddies is a welcome surprise - injecting some bite back into witch mythology (after decades of green skin, hooked noses, and pointy hats).

For that reason, despite a starring turn from Vin Diesel, the witch queen and black magic are the real standouts in Eisner's movie. The queen, portrayed by French actress Julie Engelbrecht, is limited by bland evil-doer dialogue - though thanks to disturbing production design and art direction from Julie Berghoff and Tom Reta, respectively, the witch (along with depiction of powers, spells, and curses, in general) elevate  The Last Witch Hunter  with striking cinematography and unique implementation of supernatural folklore.

Similarly, Rose Leslie makes the most of Chloe - a benevolent witch caught between Kaulder and the black magic coven. Leslie brings the same balance between blunt strength and shrewd charm that she perfected as Ygritte in Game of Thrones ; yet, the witch heroine is thinly drawn at the script level, resulting in a likable performance that is fettered by toneless romance and " not all witches are bad " platitude. Academy Award-winner Sir Michael Caine is set up for the same low-bar success as Father Dolan. Eisner establishes a compelling relationship between Dolan and Kauldor - especially as The Last Witch Hunter 's central mystery unfolds. Nonetheless, Caine is underutilized at the expense of forced plot points that convolute the story more than they contribute to its success.

A string of entertaining Fast and Furious entries, as well as fan-favorite turns in Riddick and  Guardians of the Galaxy , have bought Vin Diesel a lot of goodwill in Hollywood and among moviegoers. Unfortunately, in spite of good intentions and passion for the project, Diesel is a weak link in The Last Witch Hunter . Eisner endeavors to present Kaulder as a layered hero - a legendary warrior, with a storied past, who is going through the motions after centuries of maintaining peace (and watching friends grow old and die). The actor relishes in tough guy moments, but Kaulder requires a level of sincerity and restraint that Diesel struggles to convey. It's not a bad portrayal, but the combination of familiar 'tortured hero cursed with eternal life' tropes, and Diesel's uneven work in the leading role, squander Kaulder's potential as a noteworthy franchise hero.

That said, even though Kaulder falls short in paying off the screen time Eisner dedicates to developing his witch hunter as a tormented hero, the film provides Diesel with a steady stream of action beats to keep viewers engaged. Supporting characters (like Elijah Wood's 37th Dolan) and villains (most notably Ólafur Darri Ólafsson's Belial) don't fare any better in the grand scheme, but fresh use of curses and spells creates a platform for exciting hand-to-magic fights, in which Diesel gets to flex tried-and-true action chops, offer fun escapism for viewers who aren't deterred by the movie's overarching shortcomings.

Still, for viewers who expect more in their supernatural action-horror, The Last Witch Hunter is full of plot holes, undercooked characters, and familiar clichés that are inferior to their inspirations in nearly every way. Given the amount of time that Eisner dedicates to exploring Kaulder and Chloe's troubles, it's apparent the filmmaker was striving for something more ambitious; nevertheless, the final film is standard style over substance - rarely digging below surface level action and plot. Dazzling visuals and fun supernatural brawls can't save  The Last Witch Hunter  from a cliché plot and uneven Vin Diesel performance.

The Last Witch Hunter  runs 106 minutes and is Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images. Now playing in theaters.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comment section below.

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The last witch hunter, common sense media reviewers.

Poorly made, noisy, apocalyptic fantasy action flick.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Whatever messages might have been buried here are

The witch hunter may be the "good guy," but he's a

Strong fantasy violence. A witch's beating heart i

The main character flirts with a flight attendant,

Infrequent language includes "hell," "bitch," and

Apple iPhones are used, and iPads are mentioned tw

Background/social drinking. Smoking of magical her

Parents need to know that The Last Witch Hunter is a Vin Diesel action movie with horror elements. Expect lots of fairly brutal fantasy violence -- fighting, stabbing with swords or knives, guns and shooting, characters getting bashed around, minor characters dying -- though not much blood is actually shown…

Positive Messages

Whatever messages might have been buried here are thwarted by an attempt to force a happy ending and set up a sequel (so no real lessons are learned).

Positive Role Models

The witch hunter may be the "good guy," but he's also an arrogant know-it-all who can't connect with anyone on a human level.

Violence & Scariness

Strong fantasy violence. A witch's beating heart is separated from her body. Icky plague flies; one is stuck under a man's skin. Fighting, characters getting thrown/punched. Stabbing/slicing with swords and knives. Some guns and shooting. Characters attacked with evil tree branches/tendrils. Minor characters die. Building on fire. Somewhat scary dream/nightmare sequences. Very little blood shown. Reference to a mass grave.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The main character flirts with a flight attendant, and she's later shown leaving his apartment (implied sex).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Infrequent language includes "hell," "bitch," and possibly one (obscured) use of "s--t."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Apple iPhones are used, and iPads are mentioned twice.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Background/social drinking. Smoking of magical herbs.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Last Witch Hunter is a Vin Diesel action movie with horror elements. Expect lots of fairly brutal fantasy violence -- fighting, stabbing with swords or knives, guns and shooting, characters getting bashed around, minor characters dying -- though not much blood is actually shown. There's implied sex (the main character flirts with a flight attendant, who's later seen leaving his apartment), but nothing happens on screen. Viewers see several scenes of background and/or social drinking (no drunkenness), and language includes a few uses of "bitch" and "hell" (with a possible/obscured use of "s--t"). The movie is very poorly made, but it could attract some teens before it disappears forever. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (5)

Based on 3 parent reviews

If you love Vin, then this is for you!

The last witch hunter is predictable but entertaining, what's the story.

A warrior, Kaulder ( Vin Diesel ), destroys an evil witch queen. But just before she perishes, she curses him, giving him immortality. Eight hundred years later, in the present day, Kaulder is a professional witch hunter, working with a secret society of helpers called Dolans; the latest one ( Michael Caine ) is near retirement, and a replacement ( Elijah Wood ) is being trained. Kaulder discovers an evil plot to break the truce between humans and witches by resurrecting the witch queen, who will then unleash a plague upon the world. Only a helpful witch, Chloe ( Rose Leslie ), with "dream walking" powers, can help Kaulder discover the witch queen's secret -- and the secret of his own existence.

Is It Any Good?

Noisy and choppy, with shoddy, sludgy-looking digital effects and half-baked characters wandering through a ridiculous plot, this movie would appear to be under a curse of its own. Director Breck Eisner is known for making one of the biggest money-losers in Hollywood history, Sahara (2005), and his bad luck seems to continue with THE LAST WITCH HUNTER.

The one-dimensional villains -- led by a monstrous witch covered in rubbery goop -- cackle and snarl while fighting an equally one-dimensional "good guy." Diesel more or less reprises his character from the Fast / Furious movies, so cool and self-sufficient that he's a chore to be around, and certainly his co-stars show the strain, feeling useless in his presence. And while the dialogue can be painfully awkward, it's not as awkward as the final plot twist and the pathetic attempt to set up a sequel and/or franchise.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about The Last Witch Hunter 's violence . How did it affect you? Was it thrilling or gory? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

Is the movie scary ? How does this view of witches compare to those of other movies or stories?

How is sex portrayed in the movie? What's implied? Is it shown in a positive or negative light?

How are in-charge female characters treated in the movie? Do you think that reinforces or undermines typical gender roles ?

Since the main character is immortal and seems to have learned everything about everything, what makes him interesting (or not interesting)?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 23, 2015
• On DVD or streaming : February 2, 2016
• Cast : Vin Diesel , Rose Leslie , Elijah Wood
• Director : Breck Eisner
• Inclusion Information : Multiracial actors, Female actors
• Studio : Summit Entertainment
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy
• Run time : 106 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images
• Last updated : May 19, 2024

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• DVD & Streaming

The Last Witch Hunter

• Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• October 23, 2015
• Vin Diesel as Kaulder; Rose Leslie as Chloe; Elijah Wood as Dolan 37th; Michael Caine as Dolan 36th; Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Belial; Julie Engelbrecht as Witch Queen

Home Release Date

• February 2, 2016
• Breck Eisner

Distributor

• Lionsgate/Summit

Movie Review

The world can sometimes feel black and foreboding. Especially if you’ve ever found yourself lost at night on a strange city street: flinching at every clattering sound or faint hiss emanating from dirty, shadowed alleyways. As you clutch your coat and pick up the pace, your mind can’t help but imagine what might be hidden in those dark places.

The man named Kaulder doesn’t need to imagine it. He knows what’s hidden there. He’s had 800 years to find out. Eight centuries to watch cities form, grow, wither and decay.

This solemn figure knows the wickedness of men’s hearts. And he knows the hearts of those in the shadows who are not men, too. Those unnatural enemies with magic in their blood.

Kaulder is a witch hunter. The last of his kind.

His evil-battling quest began long, long ago when he was but a wee mortal soul. Then he was just an unnerved man, clutching a sword and climbing with his compatriots into the den of the Witch Queen. They swore to fall as one if that’s what it took to stem her wickedness.

Like the others in his group, Kaulder had already lost beloved family members to this magical scourge called witchcraft. He sees his dead wife and child nearly every time he closes his eyes. So he’s determined not to waver. He’s locked in his desire to kill or die.

Kaulder did not die that night. In fact, as he drove his flaming blade into the witch’s chest, he was actually given life. More of it than he’d ever wanted. With her last rancid breath, the wretched witch cursed Kaulder with eternal life. While everyone else would succumb to time’s passage, Kaulder would live on. Alone.

All these centuries later, the lonely warrior still follows his calling. He’s served by a Dolan, a priest in the Order of the Axe + Cross, who chronicles his work and cares for his needs. Truthfully, though, Kaulder is now less fevered than he was in the past. He’s more concerned with keeping a fragile peace between the worlds of men and witches than he is determined to wage war against the darkness.

But war is certainly coming.

When Kaulder’s 36th Dolan is attacked by dark magic—powerful spells that the witch hunter hasn’t seen used in eons—he knows that something truly evil is again raising its hoary head. Something this powerful hasn’t been seen since … well, since the days of the Witch Queen.

Again, even for Kaulder, the world feels black and foreboding.

Positive Elements

Kaulder puts himself in the line of fire to protect mankind from a rising genocidal apocalypse. And a young witch named Chloe helps him, even though she would seem to be working against her own kind.

Kaulder’s elderly Dolan 36th points out the emptiness of maintaining shallow and temporary relationships, telling his immortal charge, “You’re missing out on the best part of our brief stay in this life, the part where we share it.”

Spiritual Elements

In this alternate version of existence, witches are nonhuman creatures who maintain a human visage but have magic in their blood, “passed down from an ancient race.” They need not be evil. But we see many examples of evil as some of these beings wreak havoc with various burning and transforming spells—cast through group chanting, ancient runes and other magical substances. Thus, the film presents its blended version of witchcraft as a tantalizing means to power. Kaulder even tells a young teen witch, “You witches have no idea the power you’ve got.”

We see a variety of spiritual symbols, including several pentagrams, that have been drawn on the floor, walls, windows and other objects. A witch reads Tarot cards.

The Order of the Axe + Cross is presented as something like a group of Christian Templars that works under cover of the Catholic church. Dolan 36th carries a Bible-like book with him that’s appointed with cross-like symbols. But the lines read from the book are not Scripture. An Axe + Cross warrior carries a staff topped with a cross.

Sexual Content

It’s implied that Kaulder has sex with a young flight attendant. (We see her walking away from his apartment afterwards.) A number of female witches in a bar, and later in a fashion club, wear sexually provocative outfits that hug curves and bare cleavage, midriffs and legs.

Violent Content

Fiery magic blasts. Swarming flies. Sword-blade hack-and-slash. That’s the stuff swirling around the last witch hunter. We see men and women burned to piles of smoldering embers. Men are crushed by an abundance of rapidly growing vines and choked by swarms of insects. One is cursed with “plague flies” that crawl around under his skin and squeeze their way through his pores. Kaulder is smashed about by a huge creature composed of magically adhered wood, rocks and chunks of bone.

Heads and torsos are impaled and slashed with huge blades, sharp metal spikes and stakes. People have blades (some of them flaming) jammed through their limbs, and one man gets hit in the throat with a thrown knife. To escape his bonds, Kaulder crushes the bones in his own hand. A witch thrusts her hand into a man’s abdomen and rakes his face with claw-like nails. A guy gets punched in the crotch. A bar is torched by spell-cast flames.

Crude or Profane Language

One s-word joins one or two uses each of “h—,” “d–n,” “b–ch,” “p—” and “balls.” God’s name is misused.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Chloe drinks absinthe. Kaulder pours drinks for himself and Dolan 36th. He also gives that older man a drink after resuscitating him from a coma-like spell. A witch puffs on a hookah. Witches in a “witch bar” drink glowing and bubbling potions. Kaulder takes a potion to revive a memory and has a needle filled with some drug or potion jammed into his neck. A toxic substance is blown into the witch hunter’s face, sending him into a drugged stupor.

Other Negative Elements

We learn of foul betrayal perpetrated by members of the Axe + Cross to keep the order’s power in place.

Sometimes a film can start rather blandly but then get better, lifted by a plot twist or a compelling bit of acting. But The Last Witch Hunter never quite even makes it to bland.

It was clearly designed to be star Vin Diesel’s newest action franchise. But, frankly, there’s little here that’s either fast or furious. Sure, there’s action aplenty, with some leap-into-a-fire-and-bellow scenes. There’s even an interesting swirling-snow, shape-shifting-wood-and-bone, fire-glinting-off-steel production design. You know, the stuff that would indicate quite a lot of money was pumped into the budget.

But very little of it grabs your imagination.

What does wash through your mind is a derivative mishmash story of bleak-to-the-point-of-blackness spirituality. Faithless priests. Chanting witches. Bubbling potions. Burning spells. Impaling blades. And something that’s supposed to represent apocalyptic doom.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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The Last Witch Hunter | WIRED Movie Review

Released on 10/22/2015

[Narrator] Look alive everyone

because we've got a lunch time poll.

Do you like A) Vin Diesel B) Elemental magic

C) Flaming swords or D) Ygritte from Game of Thrones

If your answer is all of the above,

then we've got the perfect weekend movie for you.

If you've watched a trailer for The Last Witch Hunter,

the actual movie is exactly what you think it is.

The story follows a man named Kaulder, played by Diesel,

who has been hunting practitioners of the dark arts

ever since he was cursed with immortality

by the evil witch queen.

That was about 800 years ago

and if you couldn't tell from the title,

he is an army of one.

Kaulder, known among witches as the weapon,

has spent centuries seeking out those

who would use magic on humans.

The ultimate taboo.

Now it's present day

and the presumed dead witch queen who cursed him

is trying to come back and kill everyone.

Kaulder has to stop her and with help from Elijah Frodo Wood

and Rose you-know-nothing-John-Snow Leslie,

he stands a fighting chance.

You want to quit?

No, I want a raise.

[Narrator] If all this sounds a little, you know,

ridiculous, well of course it is.

But fear not, The Last Witch Hunter

is actually a really good time.

Yes, the dialogue is pretty basic

and there is a place literally called Witch Prison,

but seeing Vin Diesel slash and burn

a bunch of nouveau rogue witches is just damn fun.

Oh, and did we mention his sword lights on fire?

Look, there's nothing earth shattering

about The Last Witch Hunter.

But if you can embrace the fact that a bunch of people

dressed to attend a dinner party at Stevie Nicks' house

are casting spells in downtown New York city,

it might be the best damn time you have

at the movies all weekend.

Yeah, you're not qualified for what happens next.

(gun shots and beast roaring)

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The Last Witch Hunter

Review by brian eggert october 23, 2015.

Determined to build himself yet another franchise, producer and star Vin Diesel overestimates his capacity as a box-office draw in The Last Witch Hunter , a fantasy-thriller that has more in common with his lower-budget B-movie fare (like Riddick ) than his freakishly popular Fast and Furious series. In his follow-up project to The Crazies remake from 2010, director Breck Eisner, son of former Disney chief Michael, operates in a series of tropes and clichés, neither improving nor innovating upon them. To be sure, the screenplay by Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama, and Burk Sharpless combines familiar elements from various other paranormal hunter-killer titles, including Hellboy (2004), Constantine (2005), and Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011), each of which borrowed from Men in Black and its sequels. Here, Diesel plays a meatheaded immortal who, along with a priestly sidekick, long ago vowed to slay evil witches.

In a prologue curiously devoid of information, the film opens sometime in the Middle Ages (presumably), with a group of witch hunters journeying to confront the dreaded Witch Queen, who caused the Black Death, I guess, because she despises humanity. Julie Engelbrecht plays her under layers of CGI, bony hair, and surrounded by computery branch-tendrils. The hunters find her keeping house under a Sleepy Hollow -esque tree, after making their way over unnamed mountains in a presumably European country (their accents are either indiscernible or nonexistent). Noble warrior Kaulder (Diesel), in gravelly badass mode, faces off against the Witch Queen and kills her, but before she dies, she curses him with immortality. Of course, the Witch Queen also happens to be the nasty creature who killed Kaulder’s wife and child, seen only in dreamy flashbacks, saddling Kaulder with a typically tragic backstory.

Transitioning to modern-day New York, Kaulder, now a stylish and bald loner, works for a Christian sect that has paired with good witches determined to keep magic a secret. Those unfortunate souls who practice black magic or use their magic against humans face capture or death by Kaulder’s weaponry. And so, paired with Dolan the 36th (Michael Caine, in father-figure mode), the immortal witch hunter investigates crimes of witchcraft. When Dolan is murdered by a warlock named Belial (Olafur Darri Olafsson), his replacement, the fresh-faced Dolan the 37th (Elijah Wood), joins the fight. During Kaulder’s hunt for Belial, he finds a witchy ally in club owner Chloe (Rose Leslie, from Games of Thrones and lively here). Now saddled with sidekicks galore, Kaulder uncovers a plot to resurrect the Witch Queen, who’s weapon of choice, by the way, is swarms of badly animated flies.

The Last Witch Hunter borrows a page from “ The Seventh Son Book of Subtlety” in its overstuffed and cheap-looking special FX. Take the Witch Queen, who has so little time onscreen—most of which is shot in zippy camera movements by d.p. Dean Semler and chopped up by editors Chris Lebenzon and Dean Zimmerman—that she never becomes an iconic or even visually memorable villain. That’s a chronic condition of The Last Witch Hunter as a whole; the film vomits out so many ideas about magic and sorcery that the audience never gets a handle on the fantasy rules, if any exist. For example, some witches can be killed by gunshots or knives, while others require Kaulder to speak special words (“By iron and fire!”) before he slices them with a flaming sword. Anything can happen for no reason at all, and the audience is expected to go with it, because who really thinks about a Vin Diesel movie anyway?

With the film’s $90 million price tag (which I assume mostly went to the cast, since the FX look cheap), the filmmakers depend on Diesel’s Fast and Furious bankability to sell a dark, lame-brained adventure. But The Last Witch Hunter is an obvious bomb. Diesel’s appeal, whatever that may be, doesn’t improve matters. The actor has none of the gravitas someone who has the experience of centuries should—not with that glossed-over look in his eyes, his signature smirk, and monosyllabic vocabulary. Despite being alive for hundreds of years, Kaulder still manages to look and talk like a slab of meat. Diesel’s presence doesn’t account for the rest of the movie being a sloppily assembled and predictable mess; however, his fans are bound to make all manner of apologies for the outcome. With silly ideas like witch prisons, plague trees of moldy crabapples, and dream-walking rendered without even a momentary feeling of wonder, The Last Witch Hunter is a derivative and uninspired disaster.

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[Review] ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ is a Silly and Mindlessly Entertaining Film

The Last Witch Hunter  feels like a slightly more mature young adult novel adaptation. It is an origin story with plenty of fight scenes to enjoy, mythology to learn and an ending that clearly sets up future sequels. However, it also displays some of the worst qualities of those films as well, with stilted dialogue, poor CGI effects and flat characters. It’s not an overtly bad film, but it’s not particularly good either.

During a prologue set in the 1300s, Kaulder (Vin Diesel) destroys the cause of the Black Death, Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht), but not before she curses him with immortality. In the present, Kaulder now acts as a witch hunter, with Dolan the 36th (Michael Caine) acting as his friend and mentor. After an attack leaves Dolan incapacitated, Dolan the 37th (Elijah Wood) steps up to take his place. Kaulder and the new Dolan begin an investigation, eventually teaming up with a local witch named Chloe ( Game of Thrones ‘ Rose Leslie) who helps them to discover a secret plot to resurrect the Witch Queen and unleash a new plague.

Surprisingly, it is Leslie who is the real star of the film.  She steals nearly every scene she is in. After her star-making turn in last year’s Honeymoon and now, with her ability to make her poorly-written dialogue in The Last Witch Hunter  sound convincing, one can hope that we will be seeing more of her in the future. Both Wood and Caine are sorely underused in the film (they pretty much disappear after the first 30 minutes, only to re-appear during the climax). Diesel is the weakest link of the film, spouting off quite a bit of expository dialogue that he doesn’t seem particularly interested in.

Speaking of expository dialogue,  The Last Witch Hunter  has it in spades. The film apparently thinks the audience is incapable of figuring things out for themselves, as there are voiceovers aplenty and stilted dialogue that sounds forced and out of place, all for the sake of explaining things that you are fairly capable of figuring out yourself. Out of all of the film’s flaws (of which there are many), the dialogue is the most egregious. Critics of CGI will find little to love about  The Last Witch Hunter , though there are a few practical effects, mostly involving the Witch Queen, that impress.

The film falls apart in its final act, with an anticlimactic showdown that features editing so choppy that is difficult to ascertain exactly what is happening. It’s also a shame that Leslie is incredibly underserved in the film’s final scenes. The first two acts seem to be setting up Chloe as the real hero of the story, only for her to be relegated to a typical damsel in distress by the time Kaulder faces off with the witch queen. There is also an 11th hour twist that feels contrived and completely shoehorned in. Had the film not gone for the “gotcha!” route, it would have been all the better for it.

This is disappointing since everything that came before, while by no means Oscar-worthy, has been so much fun. Ultimately though, it serves to set up a potential sequel for this would-be franchise. It would be interesting to see where the story (and these characters) go from here, so on that level  The Last Witch Hunter  is a success, but is it a good sign when the idea of a sequel sounds better than the film you’re already watching?

All of this being said,  The Last Witch Hunter  is a lot of fun. Dumb fun, to be sure, but fun nonetheless. The fight scenes are highly entertaining and, with the exception of the aforementioned climax, well choreographed. There are moments of humor sprinkled throughout the film that surprisingly work in the film’s favor. It’s also never boring, which is always a plus with mindless action flicks nowadays.

The Last Witch Hunter  is harmless action fluff. There isn’t anything particularly memorable about it, but it’s nowhere near the trainwreck people are making it out to be. There are worse ways to spend 100 minutes, and if you can shut your brain off and enjoy the ride, you may just find yourself liking  The Last Witch Hunter .

A journalist for Bloody Disgusting since 2015, Trace writes film reviews and editorials, as well as co-hosts Bloody Disgusting's Horror Queers podcast, which looks at horror films through a queer lens. He has since become dedicated to amplifying queer voices in the horror community, while also injecting his own personal flair into film discourse. Trace lives in Denver, CO with his husband and their two dogs. Find him on Twitter @TracedThurman

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The Last Witch Hunter Parent Guide

What begins as an interesting premise soon flounders into a game of hide and seek, and comes to the inevitable conclusion..

Vin Diesel plays an immortal witch hunter, whose quest brings him to modern-day New York City where he stalks a dangerous foe.

Release date October 23, 2015

Run Time: 106 minutes

Official Movie Site

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

Kaulder (Vin Diesel) walks the streets of New York City with nothing but time on his hands. An occasional tryst with a flight attendant (we see her leaving his apartment) is all that punctuates his otherwise long days. And so it has been for the last 800 years since he stabbed the witch queen (Julie Engelbrecht) and was cursed with immortality—thus rendering him unable to join his wife and children in the afterlife. All around him is a world unaware that they are only shielded by fragile truce from a host of witches that are constrained to behave like they are ordinary people. For eight centuries, Kaulder has taken it upon himself to police this secret society and insure any oath-breaking spell casters face the witches’ council and the penalty of prison.

Recognizing that some of these witches may still desire to seek vengeance against the man who killed their queen, a succession of Catholic priests from a clandestine order has been assigned to watch over Kaulder. His current protector, called Dolan 36th (Michael Caine), is aging. Knowing their close friendship is about to make the inevitable transition, Dolan 37th (Elijah Wood) is introduced. The two parties of this fledgling relationship receive little time to get acquainted because Dolan 36 th mysteriously dies and the two are forced to investigate the suspicious circumstances together. Delving into the underworld for answers, Kaulder meets Chloe (Rose Leslie). But is this beautiful witch someone he can trust or just part of a devious plan to revive the once-thought-dead Witch Queen?

Yet what begins as an interesting premise soon flounders into a game of hide and seek with the inevitable conclusion of immortal protagonist squaring off against the all-powerful antagonist. Sadly, the battle turns into a snooze-fest. Perhaps that’s because the worm and dirt encrusted Witch Queen isn’t as scary as you’d expect. Or maybe it just the monotony of Vin Diese’s one-note gravely voice. Either way, the script’s pairing of Mr. Manley with Frodo should have left us chuckling just a few times. Even if hunting witches isn’t exactly a comedic platform, some humor might have helped keep us interested in this darkly brewed story.

About author

Rod Gustafson

The last witch hunter rating & content info.

Why is The Last Witch Hunter rated PG-13? The Last Witch Hunter is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.

Violence: Many violent conflicts involving swords, knives and guns, although there are few blood effects. In a couple of scenes we see a fantastical female human being stabbed and attacked by men who pull out her beating heart. A character’s hand is impaled by a knife. Another character is seen with a sword through his leg. Frequent scenes depict grotesque imagery of burnt and rotting corpses. Corpses and live characters are sometimes seen covered in worms and one is shown cooking with the wriggling creatures. A hand is seen dislocating in order to remove a handcuff. Vines from a plant pull characters into the ground.

Sexual Content:

A man speaks to a female flight attendant on an airplane: In the next scene we see her leaving his apartment implying she slept with him during the night.

Language: Infrequent profanities include scatological slang and mild profanities.

Alcohol / Drug Use: A character inhales an unknown substance through a water pipe: when she exhales into another character’s face it has hallucinatory affects.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

The Last Witch Hunter Parents' Guide

How is this movie similar to a police detective story on the streets of New York? Who is the detective? Who is the sidekick?

Would you accept an opportunity to become immortal? What are some of the benefits and disadvantages of living forever?

News About "The Last Witch Hunter"

From the Studio: The modern world holds many secrets, but the most astounding secret of all is that witches still live amongst us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world. Armies of witch hunters battled the unnatural enemy across the globe for centuries, including KAULDER, a valiant warrior who managed to slay the all-powerful QUEEN WITCH, decimating her followers in the process. In the moments right before her death, the QUEEN curses KAULDER with her own immortality, forever separating him from his beloved wife and daughter in the afterlife. Today KAULDER is the only one of his kind remaining, and has spent centuries hunting down rogue witches, all the while yearning for his long-lost loved ones. However, unbeknownst to KAULDER, the QUEEN WITCH is resurrected and seeks revenge on her killer causing an epic battle that will determine the survival of the human race. Written by Lionsgate

The most recent home video release of The Last Witch Hunter movie is February 2, 2016. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: The Last Witch Hunter Release Date: 2 February 2016 The Last Witch Hunter releases to home video (Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy) with the following extras: - “Crafting the Magic: The Last Witch Hunter” Featurette - Animated Short Films - The Origins of the Axe and Cross - The Last Witch Hunter Sizzle Reel / “Paint It, Black” - Audio Commentary with Director Breck Eisner - Deleted Scenes

Related home video titles:

Four siblings try to put the end to a witch’s reign in The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe . Vin Diesel takes on a more family-friendly role in The Pacifier .

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Movie review: The Last Witch Hunter

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By Joseph McAleer • Catholic News Service • Posted October 27, 2015

NEW YORK (CNS) — Trick-or-treaters beware: “The Last Witch Hunter” (Summit) is on the prowl, ferreting out ghouls and goblins, with a noble priest as an unexpected ally.

This silly film, directed with intense seriousness by Breck Eisner (“The Crazies”), recycles such well-worn motifs as an immortal yet lonely savior figure, a secret religious society and a demonic scheme to destroy the world.

Think “Game of Thrones” crossed with “Superman” and “The Da Vinci Code,” and you won’t be far off.

The story begins 800 years ago. It’s a dark time when bad witches have unleashed a plague to destroy humanity. These vile, zombie-like creatures bear no resemblance whatever to the cinematic gold standard of witchiness: green-skinned Margaret Hamilton in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Valiant if scruffy warrior Kaulder (Vin Diesel) has lost both his wife and daughter to the black-magic malady. Consumed with the desire for vengeance, he slays the all-powerful Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht), destroying her minions in the process.

Before she dies, however, the queen curses Kaulder with the gift of eternal life — and never-ending solitude.

Flash forward to modern-day Manhattan, and Kaulder — dashing and dapper in designer suits — works in the shadows, keeping an eye out for rogue spell-casters.

He’s been assisted, for the past eight centuries, by a succession of priest-confessors called the Dolans — no relation, one trusts, to the cardinal-archbishop of New York. These presumably Catholic clerics belong to a secret society called the Axe and Cross, dedicated to maintaining the uneasy peace between humans and witches.

The so-called “36th Dolan” (Michael Caine) has long played the loyal Alfred to Kaulder’s Batman. He has recently announced his retirement, however, and named his successor, Dolan No. 37 (Elijah Wood).

In the manner of all such best-laid plans, this one goes awry when 36 dies unexpectedly from a nasty insect bite. Since this is a trademark means of attack among enchantresses, Kaulder suspects foul play — and a resurrection of the wicked queen.

To find her, Kaulder enlists the help of benign witch Chloe (Rose Leslie), who tends bar at an occult watering hole. In addition to mixing a mean cocktail, Chloe is also a gifted “dreamwalker,” able to send Kaulder into a trance to uncover past memories.

In the end, “The Last Witch Hunter” teeters on the brink of ridiculousness. Fortunately, good maintains the edge over evil; not so luckily, this suggests a sequel may be on its way.

The film contains fantasy violence, scary images and some crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

McAleer is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service.

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The Last Witch Hunter (2015) Review

Expensive visuals disappoint.

The Last Witch Hunter

Aside from the accidental idiotic brilliance of the Fast And Furious series, Vin Diesel isn’t exactly the mark of quality in any movie. Yet, even by Vin’s lowball standards, The Last Witch Hunter is an absolutely abysmal attempt to launch a blockbuster franchise. Confusingly written, indifferently performed, and shot in a manner that makes it difficult to even see what’s happening, this thing is an absolute disaster. The best thing that can really be said about the movie is that it looks expensive. Clearly a lot of money was spent; it’s just a shame that not a lot of care or effort went into making the movie anything more than expensive.

Things kick off in medieval times with Diesel sporting an absolutely absurd beard n’ hair combo that’s almost worth the price of admission for sheer absurdity. He kills an evil witch queen, but is cursed with immortality in the process. A few centuries later, good ol’ Vin is still up to his witch hunting ways in the current day. In this world, witches exist in secret, thanks to ancient deals made between the magic and religious communities. However, if any witch gets out of line, Vin will hunt them down and send them to super-secret witch jail. Diesel is super brilliant because he’s got hundreds of years worth of knowledge and experience behind him. Even though he’s partnered up with Michael Caine’s priest, he calls him kid. Because that’s a super funny thing to do, apparently.

Unfortunately, Caine drops dead almost instantly and good ol’ Vin knows immediately that black magic is the culprit. Along with his new priest buddy Elijah Wood, Vin unlocks a conspiracy that just might involve the resurrection of that old witch queen or something. To learn more, he’s going to have to partner up with a witch and finds the perfect one in Rose Leslie. She runs a bar and can walk into people’s dreams as well as unlock living memories. That’s good, because it helps Vin and co. jump through huge exposition scenes with a little hallucinatory action. It doesn’t make much sense though, but at least that’s consistent with the rest of this idiocy.

The most frustrating aspect of The Last Witch Hunter is that this thing was so clearly written to be the first chapter of a new franchise rather than anything that can hope to stand on it’s own. That’s just how the blockbuster business works these days, and leaving a little mystery open for future instalments is fine when those answers exist somewhere. In The Last Witch Hunter , it’s embarrassingly obvious that the filmmakers were just making things up as they went along and left huge gaps in the narrative and mythology assuming they would be other people’s problems come sequel time. What’s supposed to come off as enigmatically mysterious more often than not just feels confusing and irritating. It’s hard to work out what exactly the rules are in this world, beyond what’s been stolen from Harry Potter, The Matrix, Blade , and countless other successful movies.

Here’s a shocker: the acting isn’t great either! Vin Diesel coasts by on a particularly lazy performance, growling out every word in the same monotone and offering audiences only two expressions: a scowl or a flirtatious smile . Granted, Vin’s wooden ways are part of his charm, but his performances only work when the movie around him is goofy enough to contain it. Everything in The Last Witch Hunter is pitched so seriously that you can’t help but notice how limited Vin’s range is, not unlike whenever Arnold Schwarzenegger struggled through a serious-ish role like End Of Days.

Caine and Wood are clearly onboard for little more than a paycheck, delivering their bare minimum effort that only feels like acting next to whatever the hell it is that Vin Diesel thinks he’s doing. Game Of Thrones veteran Leslie does her best as the good witch, but given that her role doesn’t have any depth beyond those two words, it’s all for naught.

Now, you might think that a crappy script and lazy action wouldn’t really matter in this sort of movie, since it’s all about the massive Vin v Witch action. Well, hold your horses there, young scallywag. That might be true if you could ever see the action scenes, but unfortunately, director Breck Eisner’s commitment to barely-visible, shadowy lighting, shaky cam action, and unrelenting ADD-editing means that viewers won’t even be able to tell what’s happening in any of the fight or action scenes until they’re all over and a victor is declared (usually Vin, naturally).

So what we have here is a blockbuster that’s lazily conceived, nonsensically plotted, horribly acted, and incompetently staged. It has exactly zero things going for it, unless you’re a silk shirt fetishist, in which case there is plenty to love. Simply put, The Last Witch Hunter is a garbage movie. Don’t poison your eyeballs, even if you’re a Vin Diesel completist or his parents.

Final Thoughts

Phil Brown is a film critic, comedy writer, and filmmaker who can be found haunting theaters and video stores throughout Toronto.

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The Origins of Dungeons and Dragons 5E's Blood Hunter Class Explained

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Will Dungeons and Dragons 6E Feature the Blood Hunter Class

Dungeons & dragons: 5 tips for building a rogue, baldur's gate 3 paladins prove the d&d 5e update needs to spotlight one subclass.

The following contains spoilers for Critical Role season 2.

Dungeons and Dragons is known for its long list of iconic classes, from fireball-slinging wizards to greataxe-wielding barbarians. However, the game’s popularity—influenced by media like Stranger Things and the Faerun-focused Baldur’s Gate 3 —has naturally attracted creatives who contribute interesting unofficial material, also known as homebrews.

One such creation is the blood hunter, a fascinating monster hunter with a wide range of abilities and a creation of deep roots. The class was invented by voice actor and Critical Role dungeon master Matt Mercer, a household name in the world of Dungeons and Dragons . The blood hunter has the unique use of hemocraft, also known as blood magic, and expanded skills found in the melee classes. Its flavorful subclasses may further contribute to the roleplaying aspect of the game.

Beyond any changes to existing classes from Dungeons and Dragons 5E to 6E, fans are also excited at the prospect of new classes being made canon.

How Critical Role Introduced the Blood Hunter

Vin diesel's feature.

While the blood hunter is not official Wizards of the Coast content, its history with Mercer and his D&D web series Critical Role have made it rather popular. It was created in 2015, its first iteration made for Vin Diesel guesting on Critical Role ’s D&Diesel one-shot to promote his film The Last Witch Hunter . According to Mercer, the initial class was “messy & reactionary.”

After years of restructuring and learning how to balance mechanics, Mercer created the version now known as the blood hunter. He shifted the secondary ability score from Wisdom to Intelligence, as “there was little representation for an Intelligence-based martial class,” and ensured the ease of tracking abilities and general arcane flavor.

Mollymauk Tealeaf

The public got its first glimpse of it in action when Critical Role ’s second campaign aired in 2018. The character Mollymauk Tealeaf, played by Taliesin Jaffe, was a blood hunter of the Order of the Ghostslayer. When asked why he wanted to try the class, Jaffe said, “I like the risk/reward aspect, or at least I'll say risk/reward aspect of blood hunters in theory. Actually in practice, there’s a lot of risking, which I’m slightly regretting.”

Unfortunately, Mollymauk was killed early in the 141-episode campaign, so viewers did not get to see the class played beyond a meager level 5. The adventuring party made it to level 16. The blood hunter class mechanics were then released well after Mollymauk's appearance in 2020.

The Familiar Origins of Hemocraft

The blood hunter’s roots are even more storied, however, as there is a major source of inspiration that may be familiar to fans of another famous RPG. The description of the class is that of a grizzled lone warrior who investigates monsters on the road, an order of dark and mysterious fighters who undertake a coveted ritual to fight the evils of the world. In short, it's a monster to fight monsters—and every D&D player's excuse to play a witcher .

Beyond the thinly veiled mutated-monster-slayer class, Mercer is an open fan of The Witcher series , even going so far as to dress up as Geralt of Rivia for the 30th episode of Critical Role ’s first campaign. Pre-blood hunter, a D&D player wanting to build a witcher might rely on a reflavored ranger or a complicated multiclass that makes use of a witcher’s huge range of capabilities, but Mercer's class largely satisfies that skillset.

In fact, the Order of the Mutant even makes use of alchemical formulas called mutagens, a mechanic taken straight from the games. However, a Mutant is largely considered the least powerful blood hunter build, so finding classically grim witcher flavor elsewhere might be necessary. As for the future of the blood hunter, it’s unclear whether the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons will feature it as an official class and even change any of its features. After all, Mercer has been involved with WotC before, publishing his Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount in 2020.

No matter what One D&D brings, the heavily increased popularity of the game is sure to influence how satisfying it will be to consumers. To regularly partner with huge creators like Mercer or even lesser-known homebrewers and dungeon masters would encourage the unequaled creativity found in the fanbase of Dungeons and Dragons .

Dungeons & Dragons

Tabletop RPG

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