Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Teen Witch Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 3, 2017

The “Teen Witch” that exists today is a major cult film, beloved by a certain audience raised on the movie through cable and VHS repetition, bending to the effort’s strange magic through extensive study of its earnest details. The picture wasn’t always appreciated like that, with its 1989 theatrical release disastrous, offered to audiences unwilling to accept the endeavor’s eye-crossing mixture of musical numbers, teen anxiety, and dark arts, making it more of a fit for sleepover party analysis and lazy afternoon viewings. It’s difficult to peel the reputation of “Teen Witch” away from its actual creative accomplishments, but director Dorian Walker provides something familiar that’s appealing to those hungering for a surprisingly pure shot of sincerity, keeping the picture cheeky and bizarre, but also universal with its themes of social acceptance and displays of fantasy power. It’s not impossible to comprehend why the feature is so popular these days, it’s just more difficult to digest some of effort’s broader scenes of personal expression and romantic intent.

A teenager kept virginal by her loving parents (Dick Sargent and Caren Kaye), Louise (Robyn Lively) dreams of popularity and attention from high school football star Brad (Dan Gauthier), who’s dating head cheerleader Randa (Lisa Fuller). Palling around with friend Polly (Mandy Ingber), Louise makes a special discovery on her 16th birthday, endowed with powers as a reincarnated witch, requiring the help of fellow spellcaster Madame Serena (Zelda Rubinstein) to manage. While dealing with the horrors of adolescence and her bratty little brother, Richie (Joshua John Miller), Louise begins to experiment with her powers, causing little disruptions in class and at home before setting out to claim ultimate popularity, which threatens to corrupt everything she holds dear.

Scripted by Robin Menken and Vernon Zimmerman, “Teen Witch” was intended to be a “Teen Wolf” knockoff, and follows the same arc of pubescent evolution hitting high school concerns. Louise is a good kid sick and tired of hiding her sexual awakening, resisting her parents and their attempts to ignore her maturation, seeking out Brad as the focal point of her entrance into womanhood. The whole witch idea is merely decoration, and Walker doesn’t always buy into it, sustaining Louise’s adolescent urges through dream sequences and an unnervingly potent mid-movie devirginization encounter, which successfully scrambles the feature’s apple-cheeked tone to something far more PG-13, playing directly to a target audience of young girls who are likely (at least pre-internet) stuck in the same situation. Universal feelings of social rejection and compromised crushes are common throughout “Teen Witch,” which does an effective job communicating Louise’s frustrations, with the young woman trying to reach beyond bulky sweaters to become a fashion icon the whole class admires and follows, perfecting her magic to achieve hallway dominance.

“Teen Witch” is all about clothes, boys, popularity, and music. Oh, the music. Perhaps at one point the movie was intended to be a full-fledged musical, but the picture merely enjoys periodic choreographed diversions now, with numbers including the cheerleading anthem, “I Like Boys,” and, of course, the suburban street rap battle, “Top That,” which pits Polly against crush Rhet (Noah Blake), who’s the school’s resident Grandmaster Flash, dropping rhymes wherever he can. It’s the picture’s strangest moment (which is saying something) and its most beloved, pinpointing just how sincere the movie is, trying to reach younger audiences with examples of intimate expression and low-budget showmanship. “Teen Witch” is clunky, but sequences like “Top That” only come around once in a lifetime, making the feature special as one of the last remnants of a filmmaking era that could away with goofy teenagers breaking out into rap performances without ironic or satiric intentions.

Teen Witch Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Making its way to Blu-ray after decades of home video incarnations, "Teen Witch" finds a proper home in HD. The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation looks good, celebrating the feature's era-specific lust for colors, offering rich primaries and more jubilant period hues, bringing out the best in clothing and set decoration. Greenery is also secured to satisfaction, delivering a proper suburban mood. Detail reaches as far as original cinematography goes. While inherent softness remains to preserve glamour photography, clarity is preserved, offering facial particulars and fibrous outfits, and backgrounds are open for inspection, providing sharpness to view background dancers and extras. Grain is fine and filmic. Delineation is stable. Source is in fine shape, offering only mild speckling.

Teen Witch Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix is thankfully fresh and commanding to best support the semi-musical interests of "Teen Witch." Scoring is supportive, but soundtrack cuts are more pronounced, delivering a heavier beat and clear synth. Dialogue exchanges are easily followed, preserving performance choices and group dynamic. Atmospherics are lively, good with dance sequences and high school hallway commotion. Witch magic also carries some needed weight.

Teen Witch Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features actors Robyn Lively, Joshua John Miller, Dan Gauthier, and Mandy Ingber.

• Interview (23:19, HD) with Lively welcomes viewers to the extremely positive attitude of the actress, who's more than ready to share happy memories from the "Teen Witch" shoot and celebrate its strangely enduring legacy. Lively isn't interested in digging up any dirt, but she's wonderfully cheery, sharing thoughts on her co-stars and overall willingness to recreate scenes from the film for family events (including a dance number for her little sister Blake's wedding). While she seems a bit overwhelmed by the movie's popularity, Lively welcomes personal appearances and screenings, and she only remains critical of the picture's love scene, which was part of an extensive week-long reshoot. Career highlights, including "The Karate Kid: Part III" and the television show "Savannah," are discussed.

• Interview (20:14, HD) with Gauthier also digs into the on-set mood with his co-stars, finding time with Lisa Fuller rewarding, with the pair eventually marrying in real life and soon welcoming a son. Gauthier chats about career origins and his professional achievements, including the show "Tour of Duty" and a brief encounter with theatrical work in the play "Bent."

• Interview (3:50, HD) with Lisa Fuller is a brief overview of shooting locations and hazy memories from the set, also discussing her unexpected connection to Gauthier during production.

• Interview (16:19, HD) with Ingber (who's now a successful yoga instructor) also burns through memories of time with her co-stars, which apparently involved some unrequited love and casual massages, and her general disagreements with the director Dorian Walker, failing to trust his creative vision. Ingber is the sole cast interviewee on this disc to actually pick a least favorite scene, which is brave. And yes, there's an extensive discussion of the "Top That" rap sequence, with Ingber carefully wording her assessment of the whole experience, which she wasn't excited to film.

• Interview (21:18, HD) with songwriters Larry and Tom Weir spotlights the musical achievements of "Teen Witch," with the siblings walking through major songs, sharing inspirations and tales of industry luck. The brothers explore how difficult it's been to mount a proper soundtrack release for "Teen Witch," and detail their intention to bring "Teen Witch: The Musical" to life after many false starts. There's also a short examination of the feature's legacy.

• Interview (15:38, HD) reunites Lively and Ingber, who spend some time geeking out over "Teen Witch" and their individual careers. Lively returns to her greatest source of shame: the love scene with Gauthier. Ingber shares more about the plague of "Top That," including a recent reunion with the rap for a Glamour Magazine video. Lively also covers her time guest starring on "30 Rock," with the episode writer working "Teen Witch" references into the show.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:17, HD) is included.

Teen Witch Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Teen Witch" is entertaining, even though its third act is a letdown, caught in break-up-to-make-up formula that's never quite resolved (a few subplots are left dangling in the end). The picture isn't big on storytelling, but it has enormous charm, finding Lively a bright screen presence, with the 15-year-old actress adding authentic awkwardness to the role. Rubinstein is also engaging in the mentor witch part, and if you've ever wanted to see comedian Shelly Berman (who appears as a hostile English teacher) strip down to his underwear, this is your chance. However, acting is almost secondary to the dream machine the production is building, creating school dance fantasies, stressed friendships, and high school horrors to make a direct connection to wide-eyed young viewers, and on that level of engagement, "Teen Witch" is triumphant. This picture knows what to give its audience, and it does it without too many creative hiccups, valuing simplicity and wish fulfillment with some sense of moral gravity. And rapping. Plenty of rapping.