The Witches Review

The Witches Review
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Nathan:
Hello everyone and welcome back to Monstermaster13's Countdown,   i'm your host Monstermaster13 and i've got something extra special for you this time.    It's time we talked about one of the most well known symbols of the holiday.    Witches have become such a staple of Halloween and one of the iconic symbols associated with it.
 
Whether they be the traditional  warty green skinned variety you see in classic halloween stories,   attractive ones like Sabrina,    gruesome ones like in American Horror Story,  the Hexenbiest from Grimm,  or crazy and comical like the infamous Sanderson Sisters-  there's no denying that the impact they have on halloween and pop culture as a whole is a huge one indeed.

Which brings us to the subject of today's review,   Roald Dahl needs no introduction as he was one of the best authors in the field of children's literature -   working on such classics as Revolting Rhymes,   James And The Giant Peach,   Matilda,  The Twits,   The BFG,   Fantastic Mr Fox and of course today's feature presentation..The Witches.
If you've read the book,   you'd know how the story goes already but let's just say it is a cautionary tale of strange women with purple eyes and how you should avoid them unless you want to be a mouse.       The movie...directed by Nicholas Roeg with some help from the late great Muppet-maestro himself Jim Henson (this was one of his last projects)  is very much like the book except the ending has changed.

Our main star of the show is Eva Ernst aka the Grand High Witch,   played by the beautiful and always flawless Anjelica Huston.    The makeup she wears in her true form is grotesque but also very cleverly made,   which makes it even more effective in terms of her performance.    Of course,   she naturally is eerie when it comes to her overall presence in general.

Like how Christopher Walken is known for having an eerie yet hypnotic vampiric aura,    Anjelica has an eerie,  ethereal,  bewitching sorceress aura.     Which is why she got chosen for this part and Morticia Addams in Addams Family/Addams Family Values.

It also helps that Anjelica used to date Jack Nicholson.   As we all know,   Nicholson is known for being rather 'devilish' himself as well as a bit wolf-like.    Fancy that,   a werewolf and a witch!   A wolf and a witch...all we need is a giant.

The Jim Henson's Creature Ship once again brings us some amazing creature fx with the mice and the transformation scenes,    the mice are adorable by the way.   Of course mice ALWAYS are the adorable ones and are thus the good guys when it comes to fantasy movies,   rats are always portrayed as villains  (except for in Flushed Away and Ratattouie).

Another thing worth mentioning about this movie is that Rowan Atkinson is in this,  if you know me -  you'll know that Rowan is one of my comedic idols -   I first knew of him from Blackadder and Mr Bean (a role he has reprized in the current Snickers commercials).  Then later the live action Scooby Doo movie (he was Mondavarious),  Rat Race (as Enrico Polini) and Johnny English (as the title character),  my parents know of him from Blackadder and Not The 9'O Clock News.    Rowan plays Mr Stringer, who is very much like Basil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers.

This movie is great and it still holds up,   it is a little dark and twisted but it is perfect for the halloween season -  especially if you like fantasy movies.    I rate it ten out of ten and give it two monstrous clawed thumbs up.

Check it out if you haven't already,   it's a classic that is not to be missed.  I highly recommend it,   i'm Monstermaster13 and this has been my review of The Witches ,  stay tuned for more spooky goodness.