The Witches (1990 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = The Witches

| image = The Witches (1990 film).png

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Nicolas Roeg

| screenplay = Allan Scott

| based_on = {{Based on|The Witches|Roald Dahl}}

| producer = Mark Shivas

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = Harvey Harrison

| editing = Tony Lawson

| music = Stanley Myers

| production_companies = {{Plainlist|

}}

| distributor = Warner Bros.

| released = {{Film date|1990|05|25|United Kingdom|1990|08|24|United States}}

| runtime = 91 minutes{{cite web | url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/witches-film | title=The Witches (PG) (Cut) | publisher=British Board of Film Classification | date=4 May 1990 | access-date=11 September 2016 | archive-date=17 August 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817161633/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/witches-film}}

| country = {{Plainlist|

United Kingdom
United States

}}

| language = English

| budget = $11 million{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/58740|title=The Witches (1990)|website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films}}

| gross = $15.3 million{{cite web |title = The Witches (1990) |url = https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Witches-The#tab=summary |website = The Numbers |access-date = 10 April 2017 |archive-date = 11 April 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170411054851/http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Witches-The#tab=summary |url-status = live}}

}}

The Witches is a 1990 dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Nicolas Roeg from a screenplay by Allan Scott, based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film stars Anjelica Huston and Mai Zetterling. The plot features evil witches who masquerade as ordinary women and follows a boy and his grandmother, who must find a way to foil their plans of turning children into mice.

The Witches was the last film project executive producer Jim Henson worked on before his death, with Jim Henson Productions co-producing the film and Jim Henson's Creature Shop designing and building the prosthetics for the witches and animatronic rats and mice that were used interchangeably with real mice.

The Witches was released in the United Kingdom on May 25, 1990, and in the United States on August 24, by Warner Bros. Although Dahl disliked the film and criticized the ending, which differed from the source material, The Witches received positive reviews from critics and developed a cult following over the years.{{cite web |last1=Alfar |first1=Paolo |title=The Witches (1990): 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About It |url=https://screenrant.com/the-witches-1990-behind-the-scenes-facts/ |website=ScreenRant |date=October 25, 2020}}

Plot

During a vacation with his grandmother Helga in Norway, 8-year-old American boy Luke Eveshim is warned about witches, female demons who 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 walks away. On Luke's ninth birthday, Helga falls ill with diabetes. Her doctor advises they spend the summer by the sea. At the seaside Hotel Excelsior in Bournemouth,{{Cite web|title=The Witches – paperback|url=https://www.roalddahl.com/shop/books/the-witches--paperback|access-date=2021-12-23|website=RoaldDahl.com}} 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 (RSPCC). 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. The Grand High Witch 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 the Grand High Witch. Bruno, who was given the potion earlier, is brought into the room, turns into a mouse, and flees. Luke is discovered and, after a chase, runs to Helga in their room but finds her in a diabetes-induced dizzy spell. The Grand High Witch, who somehow snuck into the room, appears and captures Luke and takes 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, now a mouse, devises a plan to defeat the witches by sneaking into the Grand High Witch's room to steal a bottle of the potion, then sneaking into the kitchen, despite the undercover presence of one of the Grand High Witch's underlings working there, and leaking it into the cress soup for the special RSPCC party. Luke and Helga try to get Bruno to his parents, but they do not believe the story and are frightened by the mouse.

At dinner, Mr. Jenkins orders the soup, though Helga stops him from consuming it. The Jenkinses finally realize what the witches did to Bruno when he speaks up. As the witches enter the banquet, Miss Susan Irvine, the Grand High Witch'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 except Miss Irvine, who shows up later completely shocked at the sight.

Amidst the chaos, Luke spots the transformed Grand High Witch and points her out to Helga, who traps her under a water jug and leaves Mr. Stringer to chop her in two with a meat cleaver. She then returns Bruno to his bewildered parents. Luke and Helga return home to where the Grand High Witch'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 the US. That night, Miss Irvine, now a good witch (having reformed after the Grand High Witch'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.

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Anjelica Huston as Eva Ernst / The Grand High Witch, the all-powerful leader of the world's witches. Huston also voices her rat form.
Mai Zetterling as Helga Eveshim, Luke's grandmother, who is an old enemy of the Grand High Witch
Kristen Steinsland as Child Helga
Jasen Fisher as Luke Eveshim, Helga's grandson. Fisher also voices his mouse form.
Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Stringer, the hotel owner/manager
Bill Paterson as Mr. Jenkins, Bruno's father
Brenda Blethyn as Mrs. Jenkins, Bruno's mother
Charlie Potter as Bruno Jenkins, a gluttonous boy who befriends Luke. Potter also voices his mouse form.
Anne Lambton as Woman in Black, an unnamed witch dressed in black who tries to entice Luke with chocolate and a snake
Jane Horrocks as Miss Irvine, the mistreated assistant of the Grand High Witch
Sukie Smith as Marlene, a maid at the hotel
Rose English as Dora, a witch who is incinerated by the Grand High Witch
Jenny Runacre as Elsie, a witch who works as a maid in the hotel
Annabel Brooks as Nicola Cuttle, a witch
Emma Relph as Millie, a witch
Nora Connolly as Beatrice, a witch
Rosamund Greenwood as Janice, a witch
Angelique Rockas as Henrietta, a witch who asks about the Grand High Witch's plan
Ann Tirard as Lady 1, a witch at meeting
Leila Hoffman as Lady 2, a witch at meeting
Jim Carter as the unnamed head chef of the hotel's kitchen staff
Roberta Taylor as a witch who works as a chef in the hotel's kitchen and is the first to be turned into a mouse when she samples the soup
Darcy Flynn as Luke's mother
Vincent Marzello as Luke's father
Grete Nordrå as Norwegian witch
Elsie Eide as Erica
Merete Armand as Erica's mother
Ola Otnes as Erica's father
Stella Tanner as witch at meeting (uncredited)
Barbara Hicks as witch at meeting (uncredited)

}}

Production

=Background=

The Witches was adapted from the children's book of the same title by British author Roald Dahl.{{cite news|title= Bewitched, Bothered, Buried Under Latex|work= The Los Angeles Times|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-29-ca-1212-story.html|access-date= 18 October 2010|archive-date= 3 November 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121103005944/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-07-29/entertainment/ca-1212_1_anjelica-huston|url-status= live}} It was the final film that Jim Henson personally worked on before his death, the final theatrical film produced by Lorimar Productions, and the last film made based on Dahl's material before his death (both Henson and Dahl died that year).

The following people did special puppeteer work in this film: Anthony Asbury, Don Austen (Bruno's mouse form), Sue Dacre, David Greenaway, Brian Henson, Robert Tygner, and Steve Whitmire (Luke's mouse form).

During the shoot, Rowan Atkinson left the bath taps running in his room (the frantically knocking porter was told "go away, I'm asleep"). The flood wrote off much of the production team's electrical equipment on the floor below.{{Cite web|url=https://www.headlandhotel.co.uk/our-story|title=History of the Headland Hotel {{!}} The Witches Film Location|website=www.headlandhotel.co.uk|language=en|access-date=11 July 2018|archive-date=11 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711063715/https://www.headlandhotel.co.uk/our-story|url-status=live}} At the time, Huston was dating Jack Nicholson, who frequently phoned the hotel and sent huge bouquets, much to the excitement of the staff.

Director Nicolas Roeg later cut scenes he thought would be too scary for children after seeing his young son's reaction to the original cut.{{Cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/summer-of-90-the-witches/|title=Summer of '90: Nicolas Roeg's The Witches|first=Louis|last=Jordan|website=Slant Magazine|date=20 August 2015|access-date=2 November 2020|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102101409/https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/summer-of-90-the-witches/|url-status=live}}

The elaborate makeup effects for Huston's Grand High Witch took six hours to apply, and another six to remove.{{cite book| title=Watch Me| url=https://archive.org/details/watchmememoir0000hust| url-access=registration| author=Anjelica Huston| publisher=Scribner| year=2014| page=[https://archive.org/details/watchmememoir0000hust/page/198 198]| isbn=9781476760346}} The prosthetics included a full face mask, hump, mechanized claws, and a withered collarbone. Huston described a monologue scene she had to do where "I was so uncomfortable and tired of being encased in rubber under hot lights for hours that the lines had ceased to make sense to me and all I wanted to do was cry."

The green vapour used extensively at the end of the film was oil based, and would obscure the contacts in Huston's eyes, which had to be regularly flushed out with water by an expert.{{cite book| title=Watch Me| url=https://archive.org/details/watchmememoir0000hust| url-access=registration| author=Anjelica Huston| publisher=Scribner| year=2014| page=[https://archive.org/details/watchmememoir0000hust/page/199 199]| isbn=9781476760346}} Roeg chose a sexy costume for the character to wear and emphasized to Huston that the Grand High Witch should have sex appeal at all times, despite her grotesque appearance in certain scenes of the film.

=Filming=

It was filmed between April 11 and mid-August 1988. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on May 25, 1990 and in the United States on August 24, 1990. The early portion of the film was shot in Bergen, Norway. Much of the rest was shot on location in England including Cookham, Berkshire and at the Headland Hotel{{cite web |url=http://www.headlandhotel.co.uk/the-headland/our-location.php |title=The Headland Hotel |publisher=The Headland Hotel |access-date=24 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223210057/http://www.headlandhotel.co.uk/the-headland/our-location.php |archive-date=23 February 2010 }} situated on the coast in Newquay, Cornwall.

=Music=

Stanley Myers composed the score. To date, a soundtrack CD has not been released, and the entire score remains obscure. Throughout the score, the Dies irae appears, highly reminiscent of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique Movement V, "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath".{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

=Ending=

Dahl was incensed that Henson had changed his original ending in the script. As a gesture of conciliation, Henson offered to film two versions before he made his final choice: the book version where Luke remains a mouse, and the "happier" version where he is transformed back into a human. During the editing process, Dahl watched an early cut of the film with his original ending, and the final scene brought him to tears. However, Henson and Roeg decided to go with the "happier" ending, which resulted in Dahl stating that he would launch a publicity campaign against the film if his name was not removed from the credits. He was only dissuaded from this on the urging of Henson.{{cite news| url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/summer-of-90-the-witches| title=Summer of '90: The Witches| author=Louis Jordan| publisher=Slant Magazine| date=20 August 2015| access-date=24 November 2018| archive-date=29 June 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629211253/https://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/summer-of-90-the-witches| url-status=live}}

Release

The Witches was slated to be distributed by Lorimar Television, but when the company dissolved their theatrical distribution operation, Lorimar Film Entertainment, it wound up sitting on the shelf for more than a year after filming was completed.{{cite journal | title = The Witches: Warner Bros takes Jim Henson's puppet film swan song off the shelf | journal = Cinefantastique | volume = 21| page = 22 | date = September 1990 }} The film eventually premiered in nine theaters in Orlando, Florida, and Sacramento, California, on February 10, 1990, to test it on American audiences. It premiered in London on May 25, 1990, and was scheduled to open the same day in the United States, but following the test screenings earlier that year, Warner Bros. Pictures delayed the American release until August 24.

= Box office =

The film earned £2,111,841 at the United Kingdom box office,{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-back-to-the-future-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-british-film-industry-in-the-1980s.pdf|page=31|title=Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing|website=British Film Institute|date=2005}} and an estimated $2.2 million in the United States by 28 August 1990.{{cite news|title= WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : 'Darkman' Shines Among New Releases |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-28-ca-114-story.html |access-date= 2 January 2011 |archive-date= 4 November 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121104153040/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-28/entertainment/ca-114_1_box-office|url-status= live}} It eventually took in $10,360,553 in the US, and 266,782 in Germany.{{cite web|url=https://www.saltypopcorn.co.uk/charts/box-office.php?chart=19900525|title=May 25th, 1990 - May 27th, 1990|publisher=www.25thframe.co.uk|access-date=31 December 2018|archive-date=1 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101002732/https://www.25thframe.co.uk/charts/chart.php?chart=19900525|url-status=live}}

= Critical response =

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 48 critics gave the film a positive review, and an average rating of 7.6/10. The critics 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."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1029830-witches |title=The Witches |date=16 February 1990 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=9 April 2013 |archive-date=18 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318100135/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1029830-witches/ |url-status=live }} On Metacritic, it has an average score of 78 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web |title=The Witches |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-witches-1990 |website=Metacritic |access-date=2021-09-10 }}

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."{{cite web |last=Doan |first=Brian |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-witches-1990 |title=Roger Ebert The Witches review |publisher=Rogerebert.com |access-date=8 July 2013 |archive-date=3 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603165706/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-witches-1990 |url-status=live }}

Despite the overall positive reception, Dahl disliked the film and regarded it as "utterly appalling". While he praised Huston's performance as the Grand High Witch, he was critical of the ending that contrasted with his book.{{cite news |last=Bishop |first=Tom |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4660873.stm |title=Entertainment | Willy Wonka's everlasting film plot |publisher=BBC News |date=11 July 2005 |access-date=9 June 2012 |archive-date=8 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108084528/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4660873.stm |url-status=live }}

= Accolades =

; Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1991)

Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actress (Anjelica Huston)
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Make-up (John Stephenson)
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Music (Stanley Myers)
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Jasen Fisher)
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress (Mai Zetterling)

; BAFTA Awards (1991)

Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair (Christine Beveridge)

; Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (1991)

Won – Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress (Huston)

; Fantasporto (1991)

Nominated – International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film (Roeg)

; Hugo Awards (1991)

Nominated – Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation

; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (1990)

Won – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (Huston)

; National Society of Film Critics Awards (1990)

Won – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress (Huston)

= Home media =

Warner Home Video first released the film on VHS and LaserDisc in 1991.{{Cite book|title=Witches VHS|asin=6302877571}} The second release (and first re-release) was on VHS and for the first time on DVD in 1999. Both versions (and any television screenings) use the original open matte negative of the film, instead of matting it down to 1.85:1 (or 1.66:1). It was released on Blu-ray in Spain only in 2017.{{Citation|title=The Witches Blu-ray|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Witches-Blu-ray/174692/|access-date=6 February 2019|archive-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207014854/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Witches-Blu-ray/174692/|url-status=live}} In July 2019, a Blu-ray release from Warner Archive Collection was announced, and was released on August 20, 2019.{{Citation|title=The Witches Blu-ray|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Witches-Blu-ray/248091/|access-date=28 July 2019|archive-date=22 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722060746/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Witches-Blu-ray/248091/|url-status=live}} In August 2020, a 30th anniversary Blu-ray release from Warner Bros. in the United Kingdom was announced, in special packaging including a booklet, original theatrical release poster, and four art cards, all housed alongside the disc in a collector's box. It was released on October 12, 2020.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloody-disgusting.com/home-video/3629835/witches-ultimate-30th-anniversary-collectors-edition-blu-ray-set-releasing-uk/|title='The Witches': Ultimate 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray Set Releasing in the UK|work=Bloody Disgusting|first=John|last=Squires|date=31 August 2020|access-date=12 October 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023075907/https://bloody-disgusting.com/home-video/3629835/witches-ultimate-30th-anniversary-collectors-edition-blu-ray-set-releasing-uk/|url-status=live}}