A young boy stumbles onto a witch convention and must stop them, even after he has been turned into a mouse.A young boy stumbles onto a witch convention and must stop them, even after he has been turned into a mouse.A young boy stumbles onto a witch convention and must stop them, even after he has been turned into a mouse.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 3 wins & 8 nominations total
- Henrietta
- (as Anjelique Rockas)
- Lady 1
- (as Anne Tirard)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaLiccy Dahl has stated that Roald Dahl never again requested someone for a role in his book after the producers of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) denied his request to cast Spike Milligan as the title character. But he was ecstatic when Anjelica Huston was cast as the Grand High Witch, as she had been Dahl's personal favorite for the role.
- GoofsWhen the Grand High Witch and her assistant enter her room while Luke gets the formula, they're wearing pointy shoes. Earlier, it was mentioned that witches never wear pointy shoes. However, the original book suggest the Grand High Witch does wear pointed shoes to great discomfort and hates wearing them, this fact is not mentioned in the movie to explain the shoes.
- Quotes
Dora: [to another witch, under her breath] We can't possibly wipe out all of them.
Grand High Witch: Who spoke? Who dares to argue with me.
[she notices Dora, points to her]
Grand High Witch: It was you!
Dora: I didn't mean to argue, your grandness.
Grand High Witch: You dare to argue with me!
Dora: No, honestly, it just was a...
Grand High Witch: A stupid witch who answers back, must burn till her bones are black!
Dora: No, no!
Grand High Witch: A foolish witch without a brain, must sizzle into fire and flame! A witch who dares to say I'm wrong, will not be with us... very long!
[she zaps the witch with her eyes]
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits zooms towards the camera above an unknown snow landscape.
- Alternate versionsAll UK versions were cut by 2 seconds to secure a PG rating. The mouse transformation was slightly shortened and a shot of a witch's bloody scalp when she removes her wig was removed.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Going Live!: Episode #3.30 (1990)
Luke (Jasen Fisher) is a little boy whose parents take him on vacation to visit his grandmother Helga (Mai Zetterling). Helga has Norwegian origin and knows many things about witches, evil creatures which manage to lure small children only to kill them later. Apparently Helga has encountered a witch in her childhood. Luke seems to enjoy his grandmother's stories. When Luke's parents are killed in a car accident Helga takes the orphaned child under her custody and does her best to fill the void. When Luke is attacked by a strange woman who most probably was a witch, Helga realizes that her grandson has suffered enough already and needs a break. The two of them take a getaway trip to a luxurious British hotel by the seashore. During their residence in the hotel, a convention is being conducted by a group of women calling themselves "The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children." Their leader is Miss Ernst (Anjelica Huston), an aristocratic lady whose gothic and sharp characteristics seem to vaguely ring some bells in Helga's memory. Luke accidentally attends the convention only to find out it is actually a coven of the hideous witches his granny has described to the last detail. The witches hide their ugly real faces under masks. Miss Ernst is of course the notorious Grand High Witch, the most repelling, terrifying, powerful and infernal of them all. The Grand High Witch is fed up with her underlings and decides that enough time has been wasted: therefore she forms a master plan according to which they will eliminate easily all the children in the country. It is now up to Luke and Helga to save the United Kingdom from this massacre.
The imagery used by the director is effective and plays a crucial part for the atmosphere of the movie. Congratulations to the SFX and make up crew for their awesome depiction of the bare skulled sorcerers. Yeah, yeah it is quite scary for kids but whatever. Dahl never cared for stereotypes and neither should we. The whole concept is a multileveled parody: firstly the childish phobias of mean witches are depicted pleasantly. Secondly, the underlying metaphor the film tries to pull off at how cruel these social workers and charity people can be, instead of preventing the cruelty, is funny. There are also many other humorous scenes (obviously wanting to counter balance the scary ones) like when Bruno, an overweight spoiled rich bulimic boy who was transformed into a mouse by the witches, says compliantly to his freaked parents "Don't take it so hard mom! You did after all want me to lose weight, didn't you?" Speaking of the mouse, I would also like to make a reference to the professional puppeteering and dubbing SFX by Jim Henson which are very successful. Generally the effects for this movie are well crafted and not at all dated. The director also did a good job in setting the creepy scenes or the action sequences (like the finale).
The casting was also inspired. I liked seeing Fisher in the central role, not necessarily because he gives a standout performance but because we finally get a real character and not a piece of cardboard. Luke doesn't apply to any of the stereotypes we see in cinema generally. He is not the cute and painfully sappy sweet little boy, or the nerdy goof and he is definitely NOT the do-it-all superhero who destroys everything in his wind-blowing path (a la Dennis the Menace or Home Alone). Mai Zetterling (who is also the narrator) gives a warm performance as the wise grandmother and also the most dramatic one of the entire film. She provides therefore the human element of tragedy in the movie. Anjelica Huston arguably steals the show in a challenging role. She is exceptional being threatening and spooky (not necessarily in her real grotesque appearance but with her ice cold stare). The kid who plays Bruno adds much comic relief in an obviously preachy role about the sin of gluttony. Oh, there is also a cameo by a then obscure Rowan Atkinson who is sadly underused. For you obsessed Atkinson fans out there you may check him out in a verbal (albeit brief) character.
Enough said, I think. The Witches is a strange film which has a perfect (but misunderstood) balance between a dark fairy tale and a snicky adult satire. It is well worth watching for fantasy fans anywhere. I don't know if it is the best (or faithful) ADAPTATION of Dahl's novel, but I believe sincerely that it is the best MOVIE BASED on a Roald Dahl novel. Recommended? You betsa!!!!
THE WITCHES 8.5 / 10
- timefreezer7
- Dec 11, 2003
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Las brujas
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $10,360,553
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,221,402
- Aug 26, 1990
- Gross worldwide
- $10,363,364
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1