In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

The Witches (1990)

The Witches is a movie I'd all but forgotten about, and I'm glad that I was recently reminded of it. Based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name, it tells the tale of a boy and his superstitious grandmother who unintentionally encounter a frightening group of witches. The movie alternates between being darkly funny and downright chilling, and features some fabulous puppet work. It's the last film that Jim Henson ever worked on personally, and it makes me long to see what else he might have brought the world. Anjelica Huston gives a masterful performance, and while the child stars aren't incredible actors, they avoid being annoying, which is a feat in of itself. The ending is drastically different than the one in the book, and a lot less effective overall, but the original ending hurt my heart a bit, so I can let it slide.

3.5 unorthodox weight loss methods out of 5.

2 comments:

Impudent Urinal said...

Does the white witch at the end lose her ugliness or is it still just hidden?
4 I would bang her if she does lose it out of 5
Points for nostalgia.
It always bugged me when Huston pointed really menacingly with that spoon.

Dr Faustus said...

Watched this last night.
I don't have the nostalgia you guys had so it didn't warm me quite as much, but it was still fun.
It really picks up after the kid gets [spoiler].
The puppets were fantastic.
It's a strange choice for Roeg.