THE WITCHES (1990)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: PG
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 2.0 English with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Cast: Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling Rowan Atkinson, Jasen Fisher, Charlie Potter, Anne Lambton
Based on the same titled children's book by author Roald Dahl (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory), directed by Nicolas Roeg (Don't Look Now) and produced by Jim Henson Productions (The Dark Crystal) comes The Witches (1990), a nightmare inducing slice of kiddie-terror that even though I was already in my teens when it was released still got under my skin with it's creepiness.
Orphaned at 9 years-old we have little Luke Eveshim (Jasen Fisher, Hook) living with his cigar-smoking granny Helga (Mai Zetterling), who fills her grandson's head full of tales of evil witches who want to see all the children of the world suffer. Following an illness the pair find themselves vacationing at a resort hotel in Norway which is also hosting an annual meeting of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, an organization run by Miss Eva Ernst (Anjelica Huston, The Royal Tenenbaums).
It turns out that the organization is really a cover-up for a coven of witches who are plotting to turn all the children of the world into mice! Now young Luke and his granny Helga must match wits with the coven of witches, plus an uptight hotel manager Mr. Stringer (Rowan Atkinson, Rat Race), tp prevent the coven from enacting their diabolical plan. Complicating matters is that poor Luke and a glutenous vacationing kid named Bruno become the first victims of the witches rodent-riddled plan, and end up facing-off against the witches in their rodent form!
The Witches is a fun and frightening kiddie-horror entry, it's the rare PG film that can inspire nightmares with it's delicious blend of magic, fantasy and fright, featuring children being transformed into little mice. The transformations themselves are actually quite grotesque looking with various stages of latex applications, the young victims emitting a ominous green vapor during the change. The designs of the witches when they are revealed are absolutely hideous
creations, and none more so than the Grand High Witch played with an appropriate amount of campiness and witchy venom by the wonderful Anjelica Houston with her long witchy schnoz and talon like fingers that I still find frightfully fun.
Apparently author Roald Dahl kind of hated the final film and how nightmarish it was, not to mention altering the original ending of his book, with director Nicolas Roeg himself trimming some stuff he deemed too damn scary for the kids. The finished film was far from a safe film though, the movie still has plenty of that kinder-trauma factor that still packs a punch to this day, making this essential viewing for bad parents like myself who want to introduce their young kids to lifetime-lasting nightmare inducing PG cinema.
Audio/Video: The 90's kinder-trauma classic The Witches (1990) arrives on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive with a new 2019 2K scan framed in 1.85:1 widescreen in 1080p HD. The velvety fine grain looks wonderful throughout with solid blacks and pleasing contrast. The colors look fantastic, particularly the eds, purples and greens seen throughout the film, it captures the surreal fantasy vibe of the film. It's great to see this movie looking so wonderful on home video, hopefully it will go onto terrify kids for years to come with this upgraded presentation.
Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track with optional English subtitles. A crisp and well-balanced track throughout, the score from Stanley Myers also sounds great in the mix. WAC don't offer any new extras for this release but we do at least get the HD theatrical trailer for the film.
Special Features:
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min)
The Witches (1990) gets a stunning looking Blu-ray from the Warner Archive, a release that will guarantee this kiddie-horror classic will continue to haunt kid's nightmares for years to come, as well as pleasing long-time fans with it's gorgeous A/V presentation.
WALKABOUT (1971)
Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: M
Duration: 101 Minutes
Audio: English DTS_HS MA 2.0 Mono
Video: 108-p HD Widescreen (1.77:1)
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Cast: Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg, David Gulpilil
In survival-thriller Walkabout (1971) a geologist father (John Meillon, Wake In Fright) takes his teenage daughter (Jenny Agutter, An American Werewolf in London) and adolescent son (Luc Roeg, We Need To Talk About Kevin) for a picnic in the Australian outback. While he sits inside his VW Bug sorting through geological reading materials the kids are having a picnic, Jenny playing happy homemaker while the younger brother plays with his toys among the rocks. Suddenly gunshots ring out, the father has inexplicably snapped, turning murderous, firing his revolver at his own children without explanation. The son thinks it's all a fun game, but the wiser sister snatches her brother and they run for their lives. The father calls out for them to return but when they fail to do so he douses himself and the car in gasoline, shoots himself in the head with his revolver, and both he and the vehicle go up in flames.
Many miles from anywhere the girl and young boy find themselves travelling the Australian outback with very few resources at their disposal, they're not dressed for survival, and have very little food and water. They find a small oasis under a tree with a small spring bubbling up beneath it, but the next day it disappears, and the teenage girl begins to realize that they're in quite a pickle. Luckily for them they are happened upon by an aboriginal boy (David Gulpilil, Mad Dog Morgan) with whom they travel with, neither speak the language of the other, but the young boy does manage to form a rudimentary form of sign language with the aborigine boy, enabling very basic communication.
The film is largely wordless endeavor, a visually stunning slice of filmmaking that captures the gorgeous yet inhospitable terrain of the Australian Outback, exploring themes of communication and human connection, and also underscoring the disharmony of modern man and nature. I fragmented narrative is punctuated by dichotomous scenes of the aboriginal teen hunting and slaughtering animals while intercut with scenes of a modern butcher, as if to say it's not that much different, though scenes of a kangaroo and other animals being killed might still prove to be offensive to some viewers, but no less offensive than scenes of modern hunters shooting large quantities of water buffalo with rifles and slaughtering them.
The young cast here is quite remarkable, Gulpilil is an engaging presence, always chatting away in his native tongue despite the fact that his words are lost on his new found white friends. Agutter as the maternal older sister looks after her younger sibling, protecting him from the hard truths he's too naive to really ponder, he seems carefree, actually enjoying his extended picnic in the outback throughout the film with all the curiosity of a rambunctious child, never quite aware of how precarious and dire thing really are.
Audio/Video: Walkabout (1971) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment utilizing what looks to be - based on the Janus Films logo and a quick comparison - the same 2K restoration used by Criterion for their Blu-ray, framed in 1.77:1 widescreen and presented in 1080p HD. The image looks very good, there's a bit of softness at times inherent to the source, but colors generally are strong, blacks are deep, and grain looks natural without looking manipulated.
Audio on the disc comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 track that is crisp and clean, the atmospheric score John Barry floats nicely in the mix, unfortunately there are no subtitles.
While the A/V is on par with Criterion's Blu-ray release this release is lacking virtually all the extras from the Criterion release. The only extras on this disc is the audio commentary with director Nicolas Roeg and
actor Jenny Agutter, who were recorded separately back in '96 for the original Criterion DVD release. It's an excellent listen, Agutter speaks about her experience as an actress on the film, including some scene specific stuff, while Roeg gets very cinematic with his discussion of filmmaking, the most interesting aspect of it being his observations about his time working with aboriginal actor David Gulpill.
The single-disc Blu-ray is labeled as region B locked but played just fine on both my Sony Blu-ray and LG 4K players. The release comes housed in an oversized Blu-ray keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork, both sides featuring what looks to be the original British movie poster artwork with new David Gulpilil element added, one side featuring the Australian ratings logo, the other without, the same artwork is featured on the disc. I love the artwork, the only niggle I have of it is how the title Walkabout is split into two words, but that's exactly how it appears on the vintage British poster as well, and it's a very minor complaint all things considered.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with director Nicolas Roeg and Actor Jenny Agutter
With each subsequent viewing of Walkabout I pick-up on things that escaped me during past viewings, the film is rich in emotion and themes, so it's the sort of film that long after the first watch will offer new discoveries. On purely a surface level the film is chock full of visual splendor, from the sun-burnt landscapes to a deep natural spring it's a thing of beauty.
