The Witches

Director– Nicholas Roeg

Starring – Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling
 

Country of Origin- U.K.

Distributor - Warner Archive

Number of Discs - 1

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 10/09/2019

    There is an odd opinion I've stumbled onto the last few years  in regards to director Nicholas Roeg, which basically states that his last good film was 1983's Eureka. Eureka was a great film (and you should probably pick up the Twilight Time Blu-ray if you haven't already).  I'll step up, and say that not only do I find that wrong, but I find Nicholas Roeg's 1990 adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches to be an excellent late period entry from the director.

    The Witches follows young boy, Luke, who is forced to live with his Grandmother after the sudden death of his parents.  The boy's Grandmother Helda (Mai Zetterling) takes the boy to a seaside hotel for his birthday. It is here that Luke stumbles on a convention of witches, who are planning to rid England of children.

    The Witches is a dark, fantasy affair from Roeg. It is one of those children's films from the period that should gross out (some of these FX are really goopy), and scare children in equal measure. This is a film that pulls no punches, as far as family cinema is concerned, and watching the film for the first time as an adult, through the eyes of my son, I could see the film still could make a shocking impact. Performances are solid are quite good, but when you have a cast that features Mai Zetterling and Angelica Huston that is the expectation. Effects are excellent, and Roeg keeps the pacing solid and without issue.

    Warner Archive present The Witches in a very solid 1:85:1 1080p transfer preserving the OAR of the film. Everything here is well-detailed, with nicely reproduced colors, and solid blacks. The audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA audo track, which is crisp, clear, and without issues. Extras include a trailer. The Witches on Blu-ray looks quite nice, but is limited in the extras department. Still this one comes RECOMMENDED.