Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

"Revenge is sweeter than candy."

2013 1h 28m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 7,255

FantasyHorrorAction

Synopsis

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After getting a taste for blood as children, Hansel and Gretel have become the ultimate vigilantes, hell-bent on retribution. Now, unbeknownst to them, Hansel and Gretel have become the hunted, and must face an evil far greater than witches... their past.

“Revenge is sweeter than candy.”

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Cast

Jeremy Renner
Hansel
Gemma Arterton
Gretel
Famke Janssen
Muriel
Pihla Viitala
Mina
Peter Stormare
Sheriff Berringer
Kathrin Kühnel
Adrianna
Thomas Scharff
Father
Rainer Bock
Mayor Engleman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tommy Wirkola
Writers: Tommy Wirkola
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tommy Wirkola, shot by Michael Bonvillain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Atli Örvarsson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jim Page shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tommy Wirkola directs. Michael Bonvillain behind the camera. Atli Örvarsson scores. Jim Page cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.
4Released 13 years ago.
5International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.
6Directed by Tommy Wirkola, shot by Michael Bonvillain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Atli Örvarsson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Jim Page shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton and Famke Janssen carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Revenge is sweeter than candy.".
11IMDB entry: tt1428538 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 15 themes, including "witch", "gun", "witch burning", "black magic".
13Released under 26 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Bonvillain
Original score: Atli Örvarsson
Editing: Jim Page
Production design: Stephen Scott
Costume design: Marlene Stewart
Sound: Christopher Assells
Stunt coordinator: David Leitch
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $226,349,749
Return: 453% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

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Tommy Wirkola

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What people are saying

Andres Gomez2013-06-28
★ 6/10
Nice fantasy and action movie. Interesting to see again Gemma Arterton and good FX but nothing else to remark.
Dark Jedi2018-01-11
★ 8/10
This is a movie which you watch for the action and the special effects and pretty much nothing else. As such it is a excellent movie. The original story of Hansel & Gretel is essentially only used to boot this movie. The movie itself plays out when Hansel & Gretel are adult witch hunters. The movie is pretty much action all the way. It is fairly violent and goory action at that. It is not a movie for the kids. To me this is an advantage. I do not think I would have liked it as much if they had dumbed it down to a standard PG-rated Hollywood creation. I really enjoyed the hard-ass Hansel & Gretel duo kicking witch ass in so many way. The special effects are not bad and the medieval yet kind of modern weaponry that Hansel & Gretel swings around are quite cool looking. Not very believable perhaps but then neither are witches so… The witches themselves are also fairly cool. Especially the witch-gathering near the end of the movie is indeed a grim (ha ha) collection of freaky creatures. I was not too thrilled about the idiot law keeper. His utter stupidity bugged me throughout the entire movie. I really whished they would have dragged out the end for him a bit more. Well he did meet a suitable end at least. Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot. If you though this was to be “just” a Hansel & Gretel movie the you are probably going to be disappointed. I knew more or less what I went for so I was just enjoying myself. I was surprised at the level of gore, exploding heads, troll-squished humans etc… but, as I said above, I think it was a good thing that they did let it be done in the way the producer/director obviously intended for it to be made.
Wuchak2019-05-10
★ 9/10
Kick axx continuation of the sylvan fairy tale about slaying diabolical witches In Medieval Germany, Hansel & Gretel (Jeremy Renner & Gemma Arterton) are now adults and formidable witch slayers, not to mention considered heroes in the community. When numerous children turn-up missing, they trace the problem to an unholy celebration orchestrated by a grand witch (Famke Janssen). Fetching Pihla Viitala plays a redhead villager accused of witchcraft. "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" (2013) is a dark fantasy/action/comedy/horror that takes the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm and envisions events about twenty years later. Imagine the excellent “Season of the Witch” (2011) meshed with the fantasy elements of the fable and you’d have a good idea of this movie. “Dracula Untold” (2014) and “Snow White and the Huntsman” (2012) are good contemporary associations, but “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” is noticeably superior. This movie just kicks total axx from beginning to end with Gemma jaw-dropping as the take-no-sheet heroine and Renner rising to the challenge. The witches are ee-vil and worthy of nothing other than immediate slaughter, which is basically the siblings’ modus operandi. There’s a lot of thrilling action and gore, some of it so over-the-top it’s amusing; there’s even a terrible troll. And the movie LOOKs great. If you like dark woodsy adventure and don’t mind fantasy, don’t miss out on this excellent film. The film is doesn’t overstay its welcome at 1 hour, 28 minutes; and was fittingly shot completely in Germany. GRADE: A