The Witches (1990 movie)

***The Witches*** is a 1990 dark fantasy film directed by Nicolas Roeg, produced by Jim Henson and starring Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Rowan Atkinson, and Jasen Fisher. The film was produced by Jim Henson Productions for Lorimar Film Entertainment as the last theatrical film to be produced by Lorimar before the company was merged into Warner Bros. in 1993. Even though Roald Dahl disliked *The Witches* for its ending's differing from his source material, the film was very well received by critics, and it developed a cult following over the years.

## Plot

During a vacation with his grandmother Helga in Norway, seven-year-old American boy, Luke Eveshim, is warned about witches, female demons who immensely hate children and use various methods to destroy or transform them. Helga tells Luke that real witches, unlike ordinary women have claws instead of fingernails which they hide by wearing gloves, bald heads which they cover by wearing wigs that give them rashes, square feet with no toes which they hide by wearing sensible shoes, a purple tinge in their pupils and a powerful sense of smell which they use to sniff out children. To a witch, clean children stink of dog's droppings; the dirtier the children, the less likely she is to smell them. Helga says her childhood friend, Erica, fell victim to a witch and was cursed to spend the rest of her life trapped inside a painting, aging gradually until finally disappearing a few years earlier.

After Luke's parents are killed in a car accident, Helga becomes Luke's legal guardian and they move to England. While playing outside in a treehouse, Luke is approached by a witch trying to lure him with a snake and a chocolate bar, so he stays in his treehouse for protection and the witch goes away. On Luke's ninth birthday, Helga falls ill with diabetes. Her doctor advises they spend the summer by the sea. At their seaside hotel in Bournemouth, Luke meets and befriends a gluttonous but friendly boy, Bruno Jenkins. Luke unintentionally antagonizes the hotel manager, Mr. Stringer, after his pet mice frighten his maid girlfriend. Also at the hotel is a convention of witches, masquerading as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The Grand High Witch, the all-powerful leader of the world's witches, is attending under the name Eva Ernst.

Luke hides inside the ballroom and spies on the witches' meeting. Eva unveils her latest creation: a magic potion to turn all the world's children into mice, which will be used in confectionery products in sweet shops and candy stores to be purchased using money provided by Eva. Bruno, who was given the potion earlier, is brought into the room, turns into a mouse, and flees. Luke is discovered and runs to Helga in their room but finds her resting after having a diabetes-induced dizzy spell. The witches seize Luke in the room and take him back to the ballroom, where he is forced to drink the potion and turned into a mouse before escaping. He finds Bruno and reunites with Helga, who has since recovered. Luke devises a plan to defeat the witches by sneaking into Eva's room to steal a bottle of the potion, then sneaking into the kitchen and puts it into the soup for the special RSPCC party. Luke and Helga try to get Bruno to his parents, but they do not believe her story and are frightened by the mouse.

Mr. Jenkins orders the soup, though Helga stops him from consuming it. The Jenkinses finally realize Bruno is a mouse when he speaks up. As the witches enter the banquet, Miss Susan Irvine, Eva's long-suffering and mistreated assistant, quits upon being banned from the celebration. The formula turns all the witches into mice, and the staff and hotel guests join in killing them, unknowingly ridding England of its witches. Amidst the chaos, Helga spots the transformed Eva and traps her under a water jug before helpfully pointing her out to Mr. Stringer, who chops her in two with a meat cleaver. She then returns Bruno to his bewildered parents. Luke and Helga return home to where Eva's trunk full of money and an address book of all witches in the United States is delivered, allowing them to plan an operation to wipe out all the witches in America. That night, Miss Irvine, now a good witch (having reformed after Eva's death), drives to Luke and Helga's house and returns Luke to human form, as well as his pet mice and glasses. She leaves to pay Bruno a visit, as Luke and Helga wave goodbye.

## Reception

*The Witches* received critical acclaim. The film holds a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 43 critics, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The consensus reads: "With a deliciously wicked performance from Anjelica Huston and imaginative puppetry by Jim Henson's creature shop, Nicolas Roeg's dark and witty movie captures the spirit of Roald Dahl's writing like few other adaptations." On Metacritic, it has an average score of 78 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, calling it "an intriguing movie, ambitious and inventive, and almost worth seeing just for Anjelica Huston's obvious delight in playing a completely uncompromised villainess."

Despite the overall positive reception, Roald Dahl disliked the film, and regarded it as "utterly appalling" and although he praised Huston's performance as the Grand High Witch, he was critical of the ending that contrasted with his book.

## Cast

* Anjelica Huston as The Grand High Witch
* Mai Zetterling as Helga Eveshim
	+ Kristen Steinsland as Child Helga
* Jasen Fisher as Luke Eveshim
* Rowan Atkinson as Mr Stringer
* Bill Paterson as Mr Jenkins
* Brenda Blethyn as Mrs Jenkins
* Charlie Potter as Bruno Jenkins
* Anne Lambton as Pamela
* Jane Horrocks as Miss Susan Irvine
* Sukie Smith as Marlene
* Rose English as Dora
* Jenny Runacre as Elsie
* Annabel Brooks as Nicola Cuttle
* Stella Tanner as Lois Leffour
* Emma Relph as Millie
* Nora Connolly as Beatrice
* Rosamund Greenwood as Janice
* Angelique Rockas as Henrietta
* Jim Carter as Head Chef
* Roberta Taylor as Witch Chef
* Brian Hawksley as Elderly Waiter
* Debra Gillett as Waitress
* Darcy Flynn as Luke's Mother
* Vincent Marzello as Luke's Father
* Serena Harragin as Doctor
* Grete Nordrå as Norwegian Witch
* Elsie Eide as Erica
* Merete Armand as Erica's Mother
* Ola Otnes as Erica's Father
* Johan Sverre as Policeman
* Arvid Ones as Policeman
* Sverre Rossummoen as Policeman