The Witches (1990)
A young boy named Luke and his grandmother go on vacation only to discover their hotel is hosting an international witch convention, where the Grand High Witch is unveiling her master plan to turn all children into mice. Will Luke fall victim to the witches' plot before he can stop them?
- Nicolas Roeg
- Allan Scott
- Roald Dahl
Rating: 6.9/10 by 1244 users
Alternative Title:
Roald Dahl's, The Witches - GB
La maldición de las brujas - ES
Bosorky - SK
Country:
United Kingdom
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 31 minutes
Budget: $11,000,000
Revenue: $15,400,000
Plot Keyword: hotel, witch, based on novel or book, grandparent grandchild relationship, mouse, transformation, tree house, based on children's book, seaside
Young "Luke" (an enthusiastic Jasen Fisher) lives with his grandmother "Helga" (May Zetterling) after being mysteriously orphaned. His grandmother has made him worldly wise to the ways of witches, and so he is alert to the antics of "Eva" (Angelica Huston) when he and his ever-hungry new friend "Bruno" (Charlie Potter) meet in a seaside hotel. Overhearing her evil grand design as she addresses a convention of hags and crones, both he and his friend are turned into white mice - but can he get back to his grandmother and warn her before all the children in the world are gone? It's quite a quickly paced and fun adventure this, with plenty of escapades as the boys/mice have to steal the potion and thwart the witches. Jim Henson has provided some suitably grizzly effects and the supporting cast - especially the rather supercilious Bill Paterson as the father of "Bruno" help keep the film flow effortlessly for ninety minutes before an ending that might put you off pea soup for quite a long a while. It has dated a little, but is still an enjoyable piece of family cinema that I did quite enjoy.
