"The Witches"

peyjenk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
674
Reaction score
6
Here's an oldie but rarely-talked about goodie. I love Anjelica Huston in this (okay, so I love her in everything), and the puppetry/costuming of her witch persona is beautifully disgusting. What are your favorite parts of the film?
 

CensoredAlso

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2002
Messages
14,028
Reaction score
2,292
Oh yes I remember this film. I really enjoyed it, though it scared me to death when I was younger. Particularly the part at the beginning about the girl trapped in the painting. And you sort of hear her yelling "Momma!"

I'm normally not freaked out by scary movies. But "The Witches" traumatized me for weeks! The same with the book, I thought the witches were all trying to get me lol.

My favorite part was probably when the witches were all gathered together for their big meeting, and you see them all laughing and bickering, lol.

And yes the puppetry and special effects are still very impressive today. :smile:
 

BobThePizzaBoy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
1,688
Reaction score
476
As crazy as it sounds, I didn't really like this film too much. I'd be willing to give it a second chance but I just felt the movie moved really slow and it was a bit too loud (I saw it at an artsy theater as part of their kid's movie program). By the time you get to the puppetry sequences, they are almost nothing and the movie just plays out really slow. Maybe it's just because I was expecting a film like Dark Crystal or Labyrinth but again, I'd be willing to give it a second chance but I still didn't like it too much.
 

lowercasegods

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2004
Messages
640
Reaction score
8
I loved The Witches. Obviously the Jim Henson connection was solid, but I'm also a big fan of Roald Dahl, and the darkness to the story suited my taste to a T. I hear, though, that Guillermo del Toro is remaking Witches, which kinda disappoints me. I loved his directorial work on Hellboy and the coming sequel as well as Pans Labyrinth, but I think Witches should be left alone. Jim and Nicolas Roeg did as could a job with Dahl's work as could be hoped for.
 

wiley207

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2003
Messages
859
Reaction score
219
I love this movie too. I thought it was funny when a witch, disguised as a chef, samples the "tainted" soup and transforms into a mouse. Then she runs into the dining area warning the other witches, "Don't touch the soup! The formula's in it!" The other witches ignore the warning and think it's a child, so one of them steps on the witch/mouse, killing her with green smoke!
 

peyjenk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
674
Reaction score
6
Oh, yeah, I had forgotten that part!

I bought in eBay yesterday, and can't wait to watch it for Halloween.
 
Top