The Witches

365 Films

Entry #4

The Witches (1990)

Directed by Nicholas Roeg

This entry might be on the tricky side considering I can’t even remember the last time I watched The Witches. The reason I’m including it in this blog compilation is because it marks two firsts for my blossoming cinephilia and me. The first being that it marks one of the earliest occasions of being aware that a book had been adapted to film. Not only was I aware that this title existed as a book, but that it was a book written by Roald Dahl (who was my Woodstock at the time). Secondly, as far as I can remember, my initial contact with The Witches came through home video. To this date, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the film in its entirety in a theater.  That’s a shame.  Massive VHS consumption was a large part of my movie watching diet. I can vividly remember the weekly trips we made to the video store as holding as much promise as recess in School. Somebody much smarter and much more thoughtful than I will have to write the definitive account of how VHS/Laserdisc/DVD ushered in all of these newfangled viewing habits we’re always obsessing over and how significantly it changed film. Come to think of it, I’m sure that piece has been written, probably thousands of times over too.  Whew. In any event, The Witches is remarkably frightening and purposefully off-putting for a children’s film.  The Jim Henson creature design certainly doesn’t skimp on the nasty. The fact that they let the guy who made Walkabout direct a mainstream family film certainly suggests a bygone era of courage in studio filmmaking. The Witches may not have defibrillated my nerve endings the way Willy Wonka did (more on that later). But it is certainly a worthy addition to the Roald Dahl film adaptation pantheon.

Update: I happened to catch the Witches on television a couple weekends ago and let me assure you, the grotesqueries in this film know no bounds.  It is every bit as horrifying as I remember, and aside from an unnecessary sub-plot involving the hot naked affairs of Rowan Atkinson with the hotel staff, it remains a satisfying experience.  Aside from the creature effects, Anjelica Huston is the MVP of the whole enterprise.  The emphatic visual choices also carry a lot of the weight in brining Dahl’s world to the screen, made all the more remarkable by a seemingly limited budget.