The Witches is an 1990 dark fantasy comedy film directed by Nicolas Roeg produces by Jim Henson and starring Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Rowan Atkinson, and Jasen Fisher and based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name.
The film was produced by Jim Henson Productions for Lorimar Film Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures as the last theatrical film to be produced by Lorimar, before the company shut down in 1993. The film was very well received by critics, but performed poorly at the box office. The film has retained a cult following over the years.
Plot[]
During a vacation with his grandmother Helga in Norway, eight-year-old American boy Luke Eveshim is warned about witches, female demons with a boundless hatred for children and who use various methods of destroying or transforming them. Helga tells Luke how to tell a witch from an ordinary woman: real witches have claws instead of fingernails which they hide by wearing gloves, are bald which they hide by wearing wigs that give them rashes, have square feet with no toes which they hide by wearing plain shoes, have blue spit which they use for ink, have a purple tinge in their pupils and have large nostrils which they use to sniff out children; to a witch, children stink of dog's droppings. Helga says her childhood friend Erica fell victim to a witch and was cursed to spend the rest of her life trapped inside a painting, aging gradually until finally disappearing a few years earlier.
After Luke's parents are killed in a car accident, Helga becomes Luke's legal guardian and they move to England. While outside, Luke is approached by a woman he quickly realizes is a witch when she tries luring him with a chocolate bar and he escapes. On Luke's ninth birthday, Helga falls ill with diabetes. Her doctor advises they spend the summer by the sea.
At their seaside hotel, Luke meets and befriends a gluttonous but friendly boy, Bruno Jenkins. Luke gets on the bad side of the hotel manager, Mr. Stringer, after his pet mice frighten a maid. Also at the hotel is a convention of witches, masquerading as The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The Grand High Witch, who is the all-powerful leader of the world's witches, is attending under the name Eva Ernst.
Luke hides inside the ballroom and spies on the witches' meeting. Eva unveils her latest creation: a magic potion to turn children into mice. They will be used on confectionery products in sweet shops and candy stores to be opened using money provided by Eva. Bruno, who was given the potion earlier, is brought into the room, turns into a mouse and flees.
Luke is discovered and runs to Helga in their room but finds her resting after having a dizzy spell. Eva seizes Luke and takes him back to the ballroom, where he is forced to drink the potion and turned into a mouse before escaping. He finds Bruno and reunites with Helga, who has since recovered.
Luke devises a plan to defeat the witches by sneaking into Eva's room to steal a bottle of the potion, then sneaking into the kitchen and put it into the soup for the special RSPCC party. Luke and Helga try to get Bruno to his parents, but they do not believe her story and are frightened by the mouse.
Mr. Jenkins orders the soup, though Helga stops him from consuming it. The Jenkins' finally realise Bruno is a mouse when he speaks up. As the witches enter the dining room, Miss Irvine, Eva's mistreated assistant, quits upon being banned from the celebration.
The formula turns all the witches into mice, and the staff and hotel guests join in killing them, unknowingly ridding England of its witches. There, Eva is killed at the hands of Mr. Stringer, and Helga returns Bruno to his bewildered parents. Luke and Helga return home to where Eva's trunk full of money and an address book of all witches in the United States is delivered.
That night, Miss Irvine – now a good witch – appears and transforms Luke back to human form, and returns his pet mice and glasses. She leaves to pay a visit to Bruno as Helga and Luke wave goodbye.