Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The Witches Blu-ray Movie Review

Blessed B+.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 13, 2019

Though best known for his output during the 1970s -- a stretch of outstanding, influential productions that included Performance, Walkabout, Don't Look Now, and The Man Who Fell to Earth -- English director Nicolas Roeg continued to work steadily during the next two decades. Near the end of his directing career came The Witches, a 1990 venture with Jim Henson Productions that was based on the eponymous children's novel by Roald Dahl. With so many dark elements in place, it's no wonder that The Witches served up copious amounts of grade-A nightmare fuel for an entire generation of young moviegoers and their unsuspecting parents. Originally, there was even more where that came from: before the final cut was assembled, Roeg himself reportedly trimmed a handful of scenes he felt went a little too far.

That's a tall order for any film in which a young boy is humiliated, terrified, and swiftly mutated into a mouse by a hideous swarm of revolting occultists. Things don't start of well for him, either: little Luke Eveshim (Jasen Fisher) ends up living with his kind but creepy grandmother Helga (Mai Zetterling) after the untimely death of his parents. He loves her stories about witches and heeds her warnings of their glowing purple eyes, square toes, itchy wigs, and powerful sense of smell -- warnings put to good use when he's approached by one of them while playing outside. After Helga falls ill on Luke's 9th birthday and is diagnosed with diabetes, they decide to spend a relaxing summer at the seaside Hotel Excelsior managed by uptight Mr. Stringer (Rowan Atkinson). Bad move: a convention is being held there, and the so-called "Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children" is anything but that. Led by the enchanting Miss Eva Ernst (Anjelica Huston), they turn out to be witches in the flesh -- all 87 of them.

There's more to the story, which attempts to balance mystery, drama, and horror in ways rarely seen inside a family movie...even by 1990 standards, when shadowy magic and fantasy escapism were still all the rage. This balance is maintained most of the time, although I daresay The Witches runs viewers through the wringer a little too much. The film's second act is its biggest culprit; specifically, a drawn-out sequence inside the hotel's convention hall where young Luke makes that fateful discovery mentioned above. The reveal and subsequent "turning point" goes on a little too long, leaving precious little room for the mouse-led adventure that dominated the film's promotional ads and poster artwork back in 1990 and even extended to all of its home video releases (including this one). It makes me even more curious about what was cut out, although another softened element still remains: a re-shot ending, which differs greatly from Dahl's book and reportedly led the author to request his name be removed completely.

Producer Jim Henson bought the film rights in 1983 and hand- picked Roeg to direct this adaptation. This was a risky move for two reasons: Roeg's most successful films were more than a decade old at this point, and he'd never directed anything aimed at younger viewers. Yet Roeg's menacing visual style, sharpened from a decade of cinematography before co-directing his first film in 1970, is what made him a unique choice for the project. It proved to be a great fit, although audiences wouldn't see the fruits of their labor right away: filming was completed in 1989, but the closing of Lorimar Film Entertainment (who co-produced The Witches with Henson's company) led to a full year delay. Sadly, Jim Henson died just nine days before the film's belated UK theatrical release in May 1990, and The Witches didn't premiere in the US for another three months. Dahl himself passed away in November of that year, although he reportedly settled his creative differences with Henson, Roeg, and Allan Scott, who wrote the screenplay.

How's that for a happy ending, kids? But here's a real one: Warner Archive Collection's Blu-ray of The Witches is a solid leap beyond previous home video editions, which include a 1999 full-screen "snapper" DVD that was re-issued at least twice with no upgrades. And while WAC's Blu-ray unfortunately includes no real extras, its fully restored 1.85:1 transfer is a thing of beauty and highlights the film's outstanding cinematography, costumes, and makeup effects. It's great news for die-hard fans and will hopefully lead to a whole new generation of terrified young viewers.

The Witches Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio (for the first time on domestic home video!), The Witches looks absolutely amazing on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection. The film's fine-grain master positive has been given a fresh new 2K scan with extensive cleanup, which helps to further highlight Harvey Harrison's extremely memorable cinematography. Image detail and textures look great, especially in close-up, while the excellent costume design and make-up effects don't reveal any obvious seams in 1080p. Colors are bold and bright with accurate skin tones, while black levels and shadow detail are consistently strong with no signs of black crush or white blooming. Overall, this is a top-tier transfer that stands as the Blu-ray's most obvious strength; it's right in line with the studio's best catalog titles from this era, and one that looks very film-like and stable from start to finish. Whether you're waiting to retire your 1999 "snapper" DVD -- which again was a 1.33:1 disc, though at least "open matte" -- or haven't returned to The Witches since bolting from the theater at a very young age, you'll certainly appreciate Warner Archive's restoration efforts.

The Witches Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray's DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix also wrings a respectable amount of detail from its Dolby Stereo source material, although The Witches will never be mistaken for a more recent production. The film doesn't exactly feature an extremely ambitious sound design, but the end result remains effective with clear separation and occasional panning effects that easily handle the film's relatively small number of shooting locations. Dialogue and background effects are well-balanced with plenty of room left over for the excellent original score by Stanley Myers, a frequent collaborator of Nicholas Roeg. No obvious damage, defects, or sync issues could be heard along the way.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles have been included during the main feature only. Typical for WAC releases, these white subtitles are formatted in ALL CAPS and easily fit within the 1.85:1 frame.

The Witches Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Witches is packaged in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with no slipcover or inserts. The lack of bonus features here is a big disappointment - - deleted scenes or the unused original ending would have been amazing, or even some on-set footage -- but this is hardly surprising, since Warner Bros.' DVD did not feature any notable supplements.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:26) - This short but sweet trailer, which downplays some of the film's more terrifying moments, is in excellent condition. It's also available on WAC's YouTube channel if you haven't seen it yet.

The Witches Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Witches is perfect family entertainment...for the right family, of course. Others may find it an entirely traumatizing experience, and I'm cautious enough about its darkest elements to postpone sharing it with my little one for a couple more years. But it's clearly a well-crafted film with extremely memorable visuals and effective editing, boosted by The Jim Henson Company's trademark brand of top-tier puppetry and visual effects. Assuming you're not too emotionally scarred from the theatrical experience, those with distant but branded memories will find Warner Archive's Blu-ray an excellent way to revisit The Witches: its outstanding restoration is a good enough selling point, even without the benefit of real extras. This one's highly recommended to die-hard fans, but newcomers may want to proceed with caution.