The Witches
“Saving the world from witches is a tall order for a boy they've turned into a mouse!”
While staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga, a young boy named Luke inadvertently spies on a convention of witches. The Grand High Witch reveals a plan to turn all children into mice via a magical formula. When they discover the eavesdropper, the witches test the formula on him. Now, with the help of Helga and hotel manager Mr Stringer, Luke the mouse must fight back against the witches.
Details
Release Date: 5/25/1990
Runtime: 91 minutes
Languages: English
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Budget: $11.0M
Revenue: $15.4M
Production
Companies: Lorimar Film Entertainment, Jim Henson Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America
Where to watch · US
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Reviews
CinemaSerf
Young "Luke" (an enthusiastic Jasen Fisher) lives with his grandmother "Helga" (May Zetterling) after being mysteriously orphaned. His grandmother has made him worldly wise to the ways of witches, and so he is alert to the antics of "Eva" (Angelica Huston) when he and his ever-hungry new friend "Bruno" (Charlie Potter) meet in a seaside hotel. Overhearing her evil grand design as she addresses a convention of hags and crones, both he and his friend are turned into white mice - but can he get back to his grandmother and warn her before all the children in the world are gone? It's quite a quickly paced and fun adventure this, with plenty of escapades as the boys/mice have to steal the potion and thwart the witches. Jim Henson has provided some suitably grizzly effects and the supporting cast - especially the rather supercilious Bill Paterson as the father of "Bruno" help keep the film flow effortlessly for ninety minutes before an ending that might put you off pea soup for quite a long a while. It has dated a little, but is still an enjoyable piece of family cinema that I did quite enjoy.
