Review of The Witches (1990) by Tim W — 03 Jan 2015

The Witches...The...Witches... God save me...This freaking movie! Because of this movie I had nightmares for weeks. When I was a five-year-old in kindergarten a friend of mine was telling me about this movie called 'The Witches' which was going to be played on TV that night, and that I really should watch it.

The movie (adapted from the Roald Dahl book) is about a boy who is warned by his grandmother that there are witches that disguise themselves as regular people and their primary aim is to destroy children.

There are witches in every country and they are led by the most evil witch of all, the horrifying Grand High Witch. Yep, holy effin' shit! That night my sister and I watched The Witches on TV. As the suspense built, there came a scene where the boy is hiding while the witches have their meeting.

When they believe they are alone they decide it's OK to get out of disguise. They take off their wigs...and...masks.. to reveal these disgusting, vile, terrifying looking beasts, courtesy of Jim Henson's workshop.

I was petrified. I have never, ever been as scared while watching a film as I was when I experienced this scene at five years old. My sister and I turned off the TV and ran to our parents in tears. 'The Witches' should definitely not be viewed by young children! Years later, at the behest of my sister, I gave it another chance to try and watch it to the end, and I did.

But after the traumatising experience of watching it as a child, I still refuse to rewatch it now that I have ticked the box of seeing it all the way through. And as for my friend, he loved it. Weird kid.

After seeing 'The Witches' as a kid, 'Jurassic Park' was about to arrive in cinemas, and that was a piece of cake in comparison.