Luke and his grandmother are taking a holiday in an English hotel when he discovers an RSPCC delegation are actually a coven of witches with a fiendish plan to kill every child in England. Things get worse when they turn him into a mouse. How can he and his Gran defeat these evil harpies ?
Based on one of Roald Dahl's classic funny / scary children's books, this a great ripping yarn full of spooky moments, gruesomely gross scenes, hilarious characters and lots of amusingly heroic episodes. Roeg is perhaps an unusual choice to direct a children's film but he creates an evocative mood (the story of the girl trapped in the picture brings me out in goosebumps every time) and casts the film to perfection with great character actors who bring out all the laughs and scares the story packs in. Zetterling - the gifted director of movies like Scrubbers - is just fantastic as Grandma, with her sly glances, matter-of-fact delivery and ever-present cigar, and is well matched by the formidable Huston as the Grand High Witch (whose hands alone are worth catching this movie for). Paterson does a great schtick as a loudmouthed hotel guest (he briefly flusters Huston by asking "Just flew in, did you ?"), Atkinson is on fine form as the officious manager, and Horrocks has a scene-stealing little part as a flunky. There are some great sequences; the big "Weetches ov Heenkland !" speech, Luke's daring escape from the conference room, the mouse-in-the-kitchen escapade and the suitably comic/violent finale. Dahl's stories are frequently gleefully horrible (one reason why they're so popular with kids), and this film, despite a happier ending than the book, exploits that quality to the full. The jaunty score by Stanley Myers, full of duelling violins and trumpets, bounces the whole thing along with gusto, bringing the humorous element to the fore and finishing off this delicious dessert of a movie. Sadly, this was the last film that the late great Jim Henson worked on before his untimely death at the age of 53, but it epitomises the imaginative, funny and enthralling love of storytelling which he brought to everything he did. Shot in Bergen in western Norway and Newquay in Cornwall.
Based on one of Roald Dahl's classic funny / scary children's books, this a great ripping yarn full of spooky moments, gruesomely gross scenes, hilarious characters and lots of amusingly heroic episodes. Roeg is perhaps an unusual choice to direct a children's film but he creates an evocative mood (the story of the girl trapped in the picture brings me out in goosebumps every time) and casts the film to perfection with great character actors who bring out all the laughs and scares the story packs in. Zetterling - the gifted director of movies like Scrubbers - is just fantastic as Grandma, with her sly glances, matter-of-fact delivery and ever-present cigar, and is well matched by the formidable Huston as the Grand High Witch (whose hands alone are worth catching this movie for). Paterson does a great schtick as a loudmouthed hotel guest (he briefly flusters Huston by asking "Just flew in, did you ?"), Atkinson is on fine form as the officious manager, and Horrocks has a scene-stealing little part as a flunky. There are some great sequences; the big "Weetches ov Heenkland !" speech, Luke's daring escape from the conference room, the mouse-in-the-kitchen escapade and the suitably comic/violent finale. Dahl's stories are frequently gleefully horrible (one reason why they're so popular with kids), and this film, despite a happier ending than the book, exploits that quality to the full. The jaunty score by Stanley Myers, full of duelling violins and trumpets, bounces the whole thing along with gusto, bringing the humorous element to the fore and finishing off this delicious dessert of a movie. Sadly, this was the last film that the late great Jim Henson worked on before his untimely death at the age of 53, but it epitomises the imaginative, funny and enthralling love of storytelling which he brought to everything he did. Shot in Bergen in western Norway and Newquay in Cornwall.