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• Good scary movie for the kids. posted on 28 August 2009

  It's a good kinda scary. The kinda scary story you'd tell at the campfire. There's enough scares, comical elements, and good story to merit 5 stars. Too many movies don't cater to the whole family, WITCHES, I feel does.

• Will appeal to kids and adults posted on 20 July 2009

  There aren't that many films really that appeal to both kids and adults but The Witches is definitely one of them. Based on Roald Dahl's 1983 book (but with a few changes) it follows the story of an orphaned boy, Luke (Jasen Fisher) and his grandmother (Mai Zetterling in one of her final film roles) as they discover a coven of witches whilst on holiday in an English hotel. Nicholas Roeg brings both humour and horror to the film, at times filmed like a classic horror film but still accessible to children.Adding to this mix is the very good support cast (Rowan Atkinson, Bill Paterson, Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horracks) although all are overshadowed by Anjelica Huston's Grand High Witch, at times comic but still a fantastic film villain. Jim Henson provides the effects which despite being a lot of smoke, mirrors and puppets work extremely well.Back in 1990 this film wasn't greatly received by audiences but its a gem, definitely one for the DVD collection.

• I remeber it vividly from my childhood and I had to own it. posted on 17 July 2009

  I loved this film from start to finish and I would recommend seeing it if you haven't already.I love all the wonderful characters and the wonderful story line. I laughed and even became a little frightened at times. If you want to see a great film, ad The Witches to your video collection. It is one of the late Jim Henson's greatest works.

• A film that scared the hell out of me as a kid posted on 07 November 2009

  No doubt Roald Dahl is a great children's author but maybe perhaps children will feel less scared reading the book than seeing it on film!The story of a boy and his grandmother, finding out that the hotel they are staying at has a witches convention which is planning to turn all the children in England into mice is very well done. Though the major concerns I have is
  1. The head witch in her real form 2. The scene when people turn into mice (espically the English kid) WARNING THOSE SCENES SCARE CHILDREN CAUSE IT SCARED ME! So parents, just put your arm around your kid the whole time, just in case.Performances are good, espically from Angelica Huston and Rowan Atkinson. Jasen Fisher is quite a cheesy lead to have, I reckon.A good family movie with very scary scenes so I'll warn you there.

• Hilarious but TOO SCARY FOR KIDS!!!! posted on 07 May 2009

  Yes, it is excellent and underrated but this movie is only for teens and adults. It is WAY TOO SCARY for pre-teen and younger kids. They won't sleep for a week.... The central theme of normal-looking, adult women turning into vicious, child-killing witches with the talented direction making for intense suspense throughout and the violence directed at children is really too much for kids. My kids, 9 and 5, couldn't even finish it and they will watch just about anything. See the message board for "scariest movie iI ever saw as a kid" and this one is right up there. No surprise! Other comments: Mr Bean talks! Yes, he has a speaking part. In his later movies he does not, allegedly because of his poor speaking voice. It sounds fine in this movie, though he may have been dubbed.

• Have you seen this? posted on 30 May 2009

  I had watched the movie many years ago and enjoyed it. I just saw it on TV last night and noticed when all the witches were gathered in the conference room some of them looked like men dressed as women. Does anyone have any input on this?The movie is definitely a dark horse.Nicholas Roeg and Jim Henson were visionaries when it came to making films. You have to view between the lines to fully understand what they are trying to give the viewer. I am a fantasy film lover and can see the hard work this people have put into these films. The characters in this film are so simple a piece, but make the entire puzzle so meaningful. The hotel employee's are so off the wall and idiotic they could really be in a hotel somewhere.

• Witches!Run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! posted on 18 May 2009

  This movie was so freaky! I saw it at a sleepover, and my friend and I were spooked. It's about this kid who decovers the witches hideout and hears their plan. One problem: He gets turned into a mouse. So does his friend. Now, with only the help of a grandmother, he must defeat the witches supirior planning. Good luck- and please come back alive!

• Childhood memories posted on 18 May 2009

  When I was a kid every time I went to the video store I would ask my mom if I could rent this movie. Now that I'm an adult & I bought it, I'm not sure how I could watch it. It was still a pretty good movie, but it was kind of creepy for a kids movie. I can't believe it didn't give me nightmares. I just remember wanting to grow up and get purple contacts. If anyone remembers this from childhood they should definitely watch it again. It brought back a bunch of memories and I was almost able to quote the movie again.

• Prejudice posted on 21 April 2009

  BESIDES BEING A POOR MOVIE, WITCHES PROMOTES RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY. There is a religion called Wicca, a Goddess based religion with 100's of thousands of members across the US and Europe the practioners of which call themselves "witches". Theses people do not believe in Satan much less worship this character from another religion.
  If this were a small group of people it would be understandable, but Wicca is well known, an Amazon search shows 378 selections, Alta Vista shows 300,000 hits. If this were a movie about Jewish people eating babies (as has been alledged by some anti-semites) movie theaters would have been burned to the ground. Boycott this and all movies that support bigotry.

• Entertaining adaptation but far from perfect DVD posted on 03 January 2009

  I enjoy Roald Dahl's books and was eager to see the film adaptation of THE WITCHES. The movie is well crafted with awesome special effects for the year it was made and Jim Henson's mouse puppetry is convincing. However I was disappointed by the DVD in several ways. First of all the sound was just awful especially with the Norwegian, British, and er High Grand Witch accents. To compound matters there is no close captioning of any kind on the disc so the viewer needs to be in a quiet room and listen very carefully. Needless to say the the DVD is also devoid of any special features.
  
  As to the story I actually found the first part quite disturbing for a "family film". Luke's loving Norwegian grandmother tells him an awful story of a childhood friend who was imprisoned in a painting by a witch until her eventual "disappearance" in old age and the story is so realistically enacted it is really quite sad and chilling. Grandma also shows him the scar where her little finger was before an encounter with a witch and gives him some warning advice as to how to recognize the creatures. The next morning Luke and his grandmother learn Luke's parents have both been killed in an accident. Shortly after Grandma Helga comes down with a serious case of diabetes and she and Luke leave for a vacation at an English seaside village.
  
  At their vacation hotel they run into a convention of witches and this more surreal part of the story is actually more light hearted and comical despite some intense scenes. The filmmakers give a happy contrived ending to the story unlike what Roald Dahl wrote in the novel. I usually strongly object to filmmakers altering such major plot points but Helga and Luke had suffered so much earlier in the film I was glad to see them experience some joy. Really young or really sensitive viewers will probably find this story too disturbing to be enjoyable.

• This was a good movie posted on 03 January 2009

  This movie has a good main idea of showing how Good can win over Evil. when the boy and his grandmother go to that hotel and the boy sees another boy getting turned into a mouse and then he winds up being a mouse he gets help from his grandmother to stop the witches. I like how they figure out to use the Grand High witch's own magic formula against her. I liked how that one witch quit working for the Grand High Witch and when the Grand High Witch was turned into a mouse the hotel owner killed her and that made the one remaining witch in England become a beautiful good witch. I liked how that good witch changes the boys back although it does not show her changing Bruno back but shows Luke getting changed back. This was one great movie. Although at the start when the grandmother tells about an event that happened in her childhood to a friend of hers the rest of the movie should be safe for kids that are at least 7 years old. This is a good movie.

• The Witches. posted on 02 August 2009

  This is a fabulous story about witches. It is about a Grandmotheer on a search to find the Grand High Witch. But the witches have a secret plan and that is to make the children into mice with a formula. My favorite part of this movie iswhen the girl is kidnapped by the witch and she appears in the painting and she grows older with time and then disappears. Made in 1989 this is a classic anyone will enjoy. I recommend this movie.

• A Great Film for people of all ages! posted on 01 December 2009

  I never read the book and I don't care too. I love Mai Zetterling's performance as the beloved Norwegian grandmother who smokes cigars and tells tales about witches. Angelica Huston might have top billing but don't underestimate Zetterling's role in the film. It is her grandson played wonderfully by Jasen Fisher who appeared in Parenthood. Brenda Blethyn OBE plays Bruno's mother in the film and Jane Horrocks plays the assistant to the grand high witch played by Huston. Rowan Atkinson does a superb supporting role as the hotel manager, Mr. Springer. Roberta Taylor has a small role and so does Anne Lambton who later appeared as a maid in Dan Ackroyd's sitcom. Anyway, they are there to attend the grand high witch's annual meeting. Angelica Huston does a delicious job in playing such a character. I love the music too. It has a great sound and I hope there is a soundtrack out for it. Anyway, they begin the film in Bergen, Norway where grandmother Helga lives, her son and daughter-in-law are visiting grandma with Luke. The son and daughter-in-law go out for the night and never come home. Luke's grandmother takes him in. They move to her house in England where Luke attends a prep school chosen by his parents. Grandma and Luke take a weekend at the seaside in Cornwall, England where the witches are gathering for their annual meeting. The film is always worth watching. I hate the television versions where they edit out scenes. It's a delightful movie all around. I just had some questions that is why I am giving it a nine because I think there was more they were not telling us like what happened to Helga when she pursued the grand high witch and whatever happened to Erica. Who was the assistant to the Grand High Witch played by Jane Horrocks?

• I can consider this a horror movie posted on 01 March 2009

  As a child, I did not remember this movie at all scaring me. Now older, it was just the smallest percentage you can think of horrific to me. But I still consider this a nice family horror movie. I thought Anjelica Huston did a wonderful job as the Grand High Witch. Her appearance looks so.. powerful. I thought Jasen Fisher did an okay job though. Also, it's a shame that Mai Zetterling passed away, she did such a good job as Helga.Well anyways, this movie was a wonderful movie. It was directed in such a wonderful atmosphere and I loved the way that hotel looked. I just thought that the kitchen and the ending was too messy and unorganized so it was just.. aggrivating.I recommend this movie to everyone. Halloween seems like a good time to play this movie seeing it's.. witches.

• A film that is both good and original... posted on 25 December 2008

  ...but the bits that are good are not original, and the bits that are original are not that good.With impressive special effects, evil witches, a brave hero, and all that this film has to offer, children will probably enjoy this film immensely or be scared out of their wits (or possibly both).But only if they haven't read the book.If you've read the book, this is my warning to you: They added the character to the film. A *good* witch who goes around undoing the evil doings of the other witches. If you liked the book's ending, *do not* watch this film.

• Lovely, magical, enchanting film.. On my top five films of all time!! posted on 13 November 2008

  I first saw The Witches when I was about five years old, and I automatically fell in love with it. I am a teenager now, and I adore it just as much as I did when I was a child. It is positively one of the most magical films ever made.Anjelica Huston is marvelous as The Grand High Witch. She plays a malicious ancient hag who is the leader of the witches of England, a large flock of bald, clawed, and purple eyed women who live in disguise, cooking up all sorts of schemes to rid the world's children. At their meeting, a young boy named Luke overhears their plan to turn children into mouse by treating sweets with a formula.The Witches is a purely fun and mystical ride through fantasy! This film is breathtaking and captivating, it will hold you spellbound long after you watch it. It has become a major part of my life!

• Bitter & Sweet posted on 20 October 2008

  Largely excellent adaptation of Roald Dahl's wicked novel. Huston and Zetterling are superb as the warring women, and Jim Henson's effects are suitably fantastic. The ending has been tweaked here. In the novel, the end is downbeat but philosophical, however I honestly can't see it working in the film. Director Nic Roeg aims for the next best thing, and while it doesn't quite work, it can't sour the sheer inventiveness of all that proceeded it.

• loved it posted on 29 September 2008

  My girls aged 7 and a half and 5 loved this movie,and so did I for that matter. From the moment Luke's grandmother starts telling him all about witches and how you could tell if someone is a witch, we were enthralled! If your kids get easily scared, then i wouldn't recommend it. If my nieces were to watch this they wouldn't be able to sleep by themselves for a month. Not that it's over the top scary, but just the theme of the movie might get some little ones paranoid. My kids love a great story and once we've watched it together, they'll watch it on their own afterward.
  Great story and great special effects to keep the kids captivated.

• Sublime and Creepy Fairytale Magic posted on 09 November 2008

  I can't praise "The Witches" enough. It is so wonderfully crafted, entertaining, and fun.
  While possibly not for all ages because of ghastly images of ugly witches and scenes of children in peril (use discretion depending on what your kids find spooky), this is delightfully dark and yet frothy and warm. It's one of my all time favorite fantasy films. It's a shame there aren't more fairy tale films like this one.
  
  The makeup, special effects, score, settings, and performances are terrific. Anjelica Houston totally shines with her evil German accent and her black and purple fashions. And those witches, how wonderfully revolting they are. This is not your typical American fantasy movie. It has such a European flavor and feel, so charming and twisted (not unlike the story's talented author, Roald Dahl).
  
  When I watch this film I feel like a kid in a candy shop.

• Great movie for children over 5..... posted on 18 August 2008

  When I first saw this movie, I thought it was amazing. The acting was great, especially by Angelica Houston. I have heard that critics like it as well, and I can definitley see why. This movie was interesting, held your attention, and was very unique, definitley a first of it's kind. For those who say that the film was too scary or disturbing for children, I disagree, This film is just a fantasy, nothing more, and I would say that children over 5 would take the biggest intrest to it,and would understand that it was not real. If you have viewed the movie, you will see that some of it is so self explanitory that it is fake that almost all kids can see it, that is why it is called a fan-ta-sy. Children under 5 may get a little scared because they do not understand the movie, and only look at the images, which can be a little scary at times....if children of all ages love harry potter...then there is nothing different about this. This is definitley worth a look....and I reccomend it to all families, with children under 5 or even just to adults....believe me, you'll love this movie!