The Witches
1990 · United States, United Kingdom · 91 min
- Director
- Nicolas Roeg
- Screenplay
- Allan Scott
- Producer
- Jim Henson, Mark Shivas
- Music
- Stanley Myers
- Cinematography
- Harvey Harrison
- Editing
- Tony Lawson
- Production company
- Lorimar Television, The Jim Henson Company
- Based on
- The Witches
Cast
What it is about
After his parents die in a car accident, young Luke goes to live with his grandmother Helga, a Norwegian woman who has long warned him that witches exist and want to get rid of children. The two settle in England, where Luke begins to suspect a woman who tries to lure him away. Recovering from an illness, Helga and Luke spend a few weeks at a seaside hotel in Cornwall, which is hosting a charity event for children led by an unsettling aristocrat. Hiding to watch the gathering, Luke discovers that its members are witches with a plan. The film mixes suspense, dark humour and children's fantasy, letting tension build from the clues Helga has been giving him.
How it was made
The film adapts Roald Dahl's 1983 novel of the same name. It was the last project Jim Henson worked on before his death in 1990. Henson served as executive producer alongside Mark Shivas, and Jim Henson Productions co-produced the film for Lorimar, which made it as its final theatrical release before closing in 1993. Allan Scott wrote the screenplay and Nicolas Roeg directed. Shooting took place in Norway and England over the summer of 1988, and the release was delayed after Lorimar's distribution arm was dissolved. Makeup for the Grand High Witch was extremely time-consuming, taking six hours to apply and another six to remove. Henson's Creature Shop built the prosthetics and the animatronic mice, which were used alongside real animals. Roeg cut scenes he judged too frightening for children after watching his young son react to an early cut.
Reception and legacy
The film opened in the United Kingdom on 25 May 1990 and in the United States on 24 August, distributed by Warner Bros. It was a box-office failure, taking around 15.3 million dollars against an 11 million budget. Critics responded positively, although Dahl disliked several departures from the book, especially the ending. Over the years it has built a devoted cult following, and it is remembered as one of the more unsettling children's adaptations of its era, with Anjelica Huston's Grand High Witch as its best-known element.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
A forgotten tap
During the shoot, Rowan Atkinson left the bath taps running in his room, and the resulting flood ruined much of the electrical equipment on the floor below.
Twelve hours of makeup
The Grand High Witch's prosthetics took six hours to apply and another six to remove, and included a full face mask, a hump and mechanised claws.
More films by Nicolas Roeg
Don't Look Now
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Walkabout
Bad Timing
Performance
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