“The Seventh Son” is a movie with a medieval feel and filled with good battling evil. A “spook” or knight, Gregory (Jeff Bridges), takes on an apprentice in Thomas Ward (Ben Barnes) to combat the evil witch Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore). To complicate matters, Thomas falls in love with the beautiful young Alice (Alicia Vikander), who is Malkin’s niece.
The movie is atmospheric, full of scenes such as Gregory riding a horse through a rainy, creepy and dark forest. Conversely, a beautiful mountain landscape and rushing waterfalls are seen in other parts of the film. The film features Master Gregory growing weary and wishing to pass the torch to Thomas. The viewer also learns a surprising secret involving Gregory and Mother Malkin.
The movie dazzles with special effects, such as witches burned and turning into skeletons before disintegrating entirely, and large monstrous creatures on the prowl. However, therein lies part of the problem: the film is strong in the violence and sex categories, thus making us unable to award the movie our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal.