The Witches (1990)

 

The Witches is a film I had grown up hearing about, but never actually watched. Orlando wanted to rewatch it, having seen it as a kid, and so I finally watched it for the first time in my life. I think my brother saw this film as a kid and I don’t know if he was scared of it so we never watched it again growing up, or if there was some other reason, but honestly this film was mediocre so I don’t think I would have liked it as a kid anyway. The film is based on a book by Roald Dahl and there are some images that probably scared some kids back in the day. The basic premise of The Witches is a small boy needs to stop the witches from turning every child in England into a mouse. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was a Jim Henson production. Henson, is of course, involved in the puppetry aspect of the film. The film itself left me confused as the credits started rolling.

The film opens with a grandma (Mai Zetterling) telling her grandson Luke (Jasen Fisher) a bedtime story about the witches she encountered as a kid and how her friend went missing by their hand. The witches live all around and no one notices their existence as the only way to tell them apart is by noticing a purple glow coming from their eyes. They hate kids and want to rid the world of them. After his parents die, Luke begins to live with his grandmother and it is at her home that he has his first encounter with a witch. After the grandmother has diabetes related health issues, she and Luke head to the seaside for fresh air. The hotel they’re staying at happens to be the sight of the witches’ convention led by the Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston). The witches are planning to fill chocolate bars with a potion that turns children into mice so that they can then be killed.

Luke overhears the plan and, unable to escape, is captured by the witches and turned into a mouse. He’s able to talk and for the rest of the film, he and his grandmother try to stop the plan. Another boy Bruno (Charlie Potter) was turned into a mouse before Luke, but isn’t much help. Of course Bruno’s parents don’t believe he’s been turned into a mouse until he talks to them. The hotel manager (Rowan Atkinson) is also determined to kill the mice as he has received complaints about them. Luke manages to use the potion against the witches turning them into mice, and eventually a good witch turns Luke back into a boy.

The Witches is a relatively slow film. There’s nothing inherently wrong with slow films, but honestly not much happens. The stakes don’t seem to be very high despite the opposite being true. The film lets us know in this manner that our protagonists are going to succeed in their endeavors. There are silly moments that balance out the creepy witch looks. Rowan Atkinson is funny as is expected. Anjelica Huston is also great as the Grand High Witch.

The effects when the witches take of their masks is actually pretty cool. They manage to make the witches so hideous and in spite of when this film was made, the effects of removing their face masks is quite convincing. I give so much credit to the special effects team because those hideous faces still hold up after all these years. 

I’m not sure if I’ll watch the remake of this film. Maybe I will as this original film left me with questions. I asked Orlando to clarify some of the confusing aspects and he honestly couldn’t answer them. It’s not a bad film, but it’s not exciting and ultimately filled with loose ends.