Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Minahzur Rahman This film was made on the year I was born; ironically, Roald Dahl (one of my favourite writers) happened to die on that year too. The Witches was a brilliant film, and one of the best Roald Dahl films out there; in fact, most of his films were actually pretty good anyway. Personally, The Witches was my third favourite Roald Dahl film (the other two being Matilda and James and the Giant Peach), but The Witches is probably the most darkest of all the Roald Dahl films. The film was very scary to watch as a child. It's a wonderful film to watch for the Halloween season. The characters were really good: really liked Luke. The icing on the cake would have to be that Rowan Atkinson was part of this film. He added that "flavour" if you know what I mean – you first have to see it. The only regret was that a sequel wasn't made given how the ending planned out though it wasn't necessary. After watching this film, my fear for witches has increased further...A LOT...further...MWAHAHAHA!!!!!

gavin6942 A young boy stumbles onto a witch convention and must stop them, even after he has been turned into a mouse.This is a legitimately creepy and sometimes scary film... intended for kids. Allegedly Roald Dahl was not happy with the scary aspects and that is understandable. His work does have dark elements, but they are usually more subtle. (Willy Wonka is quite the devilish fiend!) Anjelica Huston is perfect as both the witch and her alter ego. The "vamp" look suits her and one might suppose this role is what lead to her being cast in "The Addams Family", as the similarities are striking.

Anastasia Kharlamova To begin with, the main reason I rated it 8 and not 10 is the creepiness of the witches. Yes, I know they are shown exactly like Roald Dahl described them, but I really think that it's different to see it on screen rather than read about it. The true face of the Grand High Witch is absolutely repulsive to the point I feel sick looking at it and want to skip directly to her counter-transformation. As other reviewers have noted, it's for PG-13 more than for PG. The rest of the film is very charming. Grandmother Helga is splendid and exactly like I imagined her when reading the book. Luke's a bit shrill with his "Graaaandma!" but acts very well. Anjelica Huston (apart from the true-face sequences) is a perfect Grand High Witch, and the hotel staff and Bruno (a nicer incarnation of Augustus Gloop) are hilarious. Right, but I know it's always more interesting to read about flaws, so…The character of Miss Irvine is a bit underdeveloped and even if one hasn't read the book (I have), it can be noticed that it is a later deus ex machina addition (one moment she's cackling with everybody else and the next she "never really wanted to be with them anyway"). I mean, the Grand High Witch burns at least one witch per year and does horrible things to kids – compared to that, merely not allowing her secretary to attend the banquet is nice everyday behavior; so it seems odd that Miss Irvine alone suddenly snaps and for a petty reason at that. But Jane Horrocks whom I like very much does a wonderful job of the part and manages to make it as convincing as the script allows. I personally liked the change to the ending in itself. I believe that the problem with filming the original ending isn't its bittersweet flavor – it just leaves too many threads hanging. Fine in a book, but, in my opinion, hard to film. It's a pity that the filmmakers took the other option to the extreme as well, and the whole Susan-Irvine-ex-machina thing seems rushed altogether, as many reviewers point out. Besides, although it effectively concludes the plot line of Luke's life as a mouse (the chief one that left the book ending open), it raises an entirely new question of the witches' nature – the book was very vague on it; Grandma said the witches are humanoid demonic creatures, but the Grand High Witch selected the elderly witches and said that they were the ancestors of others. And now we learn that a witch can turn human if she really wants (and I'm really puzzled about the hair – was Miss Irvine by the end still in her wig though with human hands or did her new hair magically grow exactly to match the wig?). Of course, it's Dahl and not Tolkien so no one expects a full story of witches from the creation of the world with all dynasties and rulers, but the witches are left a pretty mysterious species, and here even more than in the book. However, I believe that (again and again, save for the witches' true faces) it's a very nice family movie. The ending of the book is quite a depressing one for kids – I don't know firsthand as I read it at nineteen (it still nearly brought me to tears), but I'm sure that had I read it at around seven, at the same time as the Chocolate Factory, the Giant Glass Elevator, the Giant Peach, and Mr. Fox, I would have been terribly shocked, especially with the contrast. The movie ending is not so much rushed as to be a problem during watching. It's very funny and touching, I particularly liked Miss Irvine sending the white mice back to Luke. The questions only come to your head later, and they don't keep you from enjoying the film.

EBJ Overall: I known 4/10 seems quite low but in Gods honest truth, I didn't enjoy this movie half as much as some other Dahl movies. Entertaining? yes; worth a watch? Yes; 100% Rotten Tomatoes? I think this is a stretch. I would recommend a one time watch with this movie but just don't think about it at all.Good: The effects would have been good for it's time but do feel quite dated today. The music and cinematography is excellent and miles better than expected. It entertains you from start to finish and I was never bored purse. The pacing is decently done. They definitely made the witches look revolting even by today's standards.Bad: As stated above, the effects are sub par today but that can't be helped. The characters aren't interesting nor is the sub par acting that lifts them of the page. An absurd number of plot holes and inconsistencies that I actually lost count while watching. The ending was clearly done last minute and was just done to make it all nice and happy. It doesn't feel like it knows what it's doing; the concept of magic and evil witches could be good for children but the content is more suitable for older audiences who wouldn't be interested.Best Part: The grand and disturbing unveiling of the witches beneath their masks.4/10