‘A real witch could smell you across the street on a pitch-black night…’
I’m a firm believer that some mild peril and trauma is vital in any child’s development. Many of my formative memories involve being troubled by something I’d seen on TV. Gremlins, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Return to Oz… all of these films offered a gateway into the horror genre that I would come to love so much. Nicolas Roeg’s The Witches is often cited as the inspiration for many a childhood nightmare and revisiting it again now so many years later I was surprised at just how dark and grotesque this film really is…
Luke Eveshim (Jasen Fisher) goes to live with his eccentric, cigar-smoking aunt (Mai Zetterling) in England following the death of his parents in a car accident. On arrival, however, it appears that they are sharing a hotel with a coven of witches led by the Grand High Witch herself Eva Ernst (Anjelica Huston). The witches hate children and plan on turning them all into mice – a slight overreaction perhaps but these are particularly angry and spiteful witches.
The thing with The Witches is that the famous transformation scene is so iconic and memorable and just good that it kind of overshadows the rest of the film. That scene and the story about the girl trapped in the painting are the result of a creative team firing on all cylinders. Jim Henson (this was his final film before he passed away), Roeg, the cast… everyone is on top form. While the rest of the film doesn’t live up to those two scenes, it is still an incredibly entertaining dance with darkness with incredible make-up and prosthetics and a strong visual style. Dahl’s novels were always rooted in the macabre and this is one of the only film adaptations of his work that embraces that darkness rather than trying to tone it down.
Films like The Witches are not made today. Kid’s films don’t take risks anymore. Everything is too sanitised, too safe. Luckily, Roeg’s minor masterpiece isn’t going anywhere and it is destined to be terrifying and delighting children for many more years to come.
