Was there anybody else but Nicolas Roeg who could have brought the appropriately dark and twisted tone to a filmic adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches? Indeed, the director famous for horror flick Don't Look Now proved himself to be the best man for job, injecting the already frightening kids' story into something genuinely nightmarish - so much so, in fact, that at times The Witches actually feels more like a horror movie than something aimed at children. And at the centre is a wonderfully disturbing performance by Angelica Huston. The fact that Roeg ended up behind the camera for this one ensured that there were a few detractors, of course, one of whom was Dahl himself, who took issue with the director's vision of the ending. Ending aside, though, The Witches stands as a strange but undeniably witty foray into the fantasy genre. Mention of Roeg's visual palette here and the makeup effects are a must, but to restate the real joy of this movie... well, it's Huston all the way. The actress plays antagonist Eva Ernst with an obvious amount of relish; indeed, it's one of her best ever roles.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
