'Gretl: Witch Hunter' w Paul McGillion & Emilie Ullerup; A Review

This is a TV review of the Syfy Saturday night movie, called Gretl: Witch Hunter which was also produced by Syfy (Battle of Los Angeles, 51, Titanic II, Mysterious Island) and stars some fan-favorites like Shannen Doherty, Emilie Ullerup & Paul McGillion.

Back in 2010, when I snagged the press imagery for the movie that Emilie shared with fans, it was being called either "Hansel and Gretl," or "Hansel," or "Witchslayer."  Heck, looking at the above splash image for the movie on Syfy's website it doesn't even have the right name.  I'm confused by the wishy-washy marketing support but be it as it may, it seems they settled on today's title... 

We last saw Shannen in the 90210 remake. 

Emilie Ullerup has been pretty busy.  She's had a role in The Means War, A Little Bit Zombie & Hunt to Kill.  She's also going to be seen in the series Artic Air, and for many, she sparked a huge bit of ire with her fans when she was rather abruptly killed off in Syfy's Sanctuary.

Paul McGillion was last seen (as a regular) in (the probably cancelled) Sanctuary, but left a legacy as Dr. Carson Beckett in Stargate: Atlantis.

Now, let's chat about the TV movie, shall we?
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Gretl: Witch Hunter opens and defines the fairy tale character Hansel (McGillion) as a witch slayer, with all kinds of tricks up his sleeve.  One of those tricks is that he's resistant to magic.

We find him working with a woman called Lara, played by Sarain Boylan, who is just as deft at slaying witches as Hansel is.

During one of their saves, they encounter and rescue a young blacksmith's daughter by the name of Ehren, played by Emilie Ullerup.

At first, she screams A LOT, and mostly the same thing, as in "let me go." over and over and over...  lady... we get it!  Cinema Static Inquiry:  If someone is going to kidnap you, string you up to do witchy things to you, do you really think they'll abide your request for release?  Just askin'!
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After Hansel rescues Ehren, they discover she seems to have a strong and latent skill, as in the talent to use witchcraft.  Lara feels a connection to her and convinces Hansel to not kill her...  though he's itching and says if she takes one misstep, poof, she's gone.

Why the movie is called Gretl: Witch Hunter confuses me.  Hansel is the witch hunter, and his sister Gretl, who was kidnapped when they were children, and through a witchy possession, has become the witch queen.

Eh, semantics.

And hence, the gist of the movie is Hansel looking for his sister, taking Ehren under his and Lara's wings, training her along the way, and the continual defeat of those pesky witches that keep trying to stab them with spears.

Oh, and there's a pet gargoyle flitting around at the beck and call of possessed witch Gretl.
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If you recognized one of the crew of witches, that was Erica Cox, whose been in Repo! The Genetic Opera, Bitten, American Pie Presents Beta House and has guested on Warehouse 13.

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Gretl: Witch Hunter felt more like a movie than most Syfy channel projects... and I can only surmise that it's due to the acting chops within the TV movie.

McGillion, Ullerup and Boylan brought a solid set of portrayals to the small screen and Doherty didn't hurt either.

For a Syfy movie, it was entertaining enough that I wanted to see where the movie kept going, even despite some of the questionable fight choreography and what not.  And it was good to watch McGillion and Ullerup again though I'm definitely disappointed in the total lack of marketing imagery for the movie.