Embracing the Dark Arts: The Sinister Witch's Path to Power

She seeks to be my sinister witch. In a world filled with enchantment and mystery, she emerges as a dark force, drawing me towards her with a magnetic pull. Her presence is both alluring and terrifying, captivating my senses and igniting a primal desire within me. With every step she takes, her aura permeates through the air, causing a chilling sensation to race down my spine. There is a power in her eyes, a flicker of mischief and deceit that bewitches me like no other. It is this contradiction that fuels my fascination, as I am unable to resist the allure of her forbidden magic.

Title (Brazil): "Convenção das Bruxas" ("Witches Convention")

Their leader is Miss Ernst Anjelica Huston , an aristocratic lady whose gothic and sharp characteristics seem to vaguely ring some bells in Helga s memory. Very strange fantasy in which a young boy Luke Jasen Fisher and his friend Bruno Charles Potter get in trouble with some witches led by Anjelicia Huston.

It is this contradiction that fuels my fascination, as I am unable to resist the allure of her forbidden magic. The way she moves, so fluid and graceful, is a dance of seduction and danger. She entwines herself around my heart, entangling my thoughts with a web of spells and potions.

User Reviews

The Witches is the rarest thing you'll ever see: a black comedy for children. Adults just assume that kids don't have the level of wit and sophistication to appreciate sly and sarcastic humour, but here that theory is challenged with a vengeance and this film proves itself to be a wickedly entertaining, knowingly cruel pantomime.

The story finds a young boy named Luke moving in with his Grandma following the death of his parents. She lives in Norway and is something of a witch expert. Pretty soon, she has filled his mind with tales of witchery and caution. Grandma falls seriously ill and is advised to go to the English seaside to recover, accompanied by Luke. Whilst there, Luke uncovers the fact that the RSPCC meeting in the hotel is actually a front for a society of witches. He is captured by them and metamorphosised into a mouse, but still comes up with a plot to wipe them out.

This film is enormous fun, punctuated by offbeat performances (Huston as the Grand High Witch of All the World is terrifying and funny in equal measure) and splendid puppet work. The story uses the moral that children should "never talk to strangers", but enhances it with the ingenious and disturbing premise of witches being responsible for evil acts towards children. The story has real pace and purpose, and constantly turns up another surprise or twist just when you think you've figured out what's coming next. The supporting performances are very nicely judged (Atkinson as the snooty hotel manager, Zetterlig as the wise grandmother, etc.). All in all, this is a must-see kids' flick for kids and adults of all ages.

Very strange fantasy in which a young boy Luke (Jasen Fisher) and his friend Bruno (Charles Potter) get in trouble with some witches (led by Anjelicia Huston). Luke's Norwegian aunt (Mai Zetterling), a former witch, helps him battle the others.

When this came out in 1990 critics loved it, but audiences stayed away. Real witches attacked the film because it portrayed witches as evil, ugly and wanting to kill all children. They overreacted--it's just a FANTASY, not reality. Also it was way too strong (and strange) to attract a family audience. too scary for kids and adults assumed it was a kids movie. But it is a good fantasy for high schoolers and adults.

Nicholas Roegs' direction is off-putting (he directs it like it's high art), but the special effects are truly incredible (especially the mice) and there are wonderful performances by Zetterling and Huston (going WAY over the top in her acting).

It's a very strange movie--definitely a one of a kind. It's worth a look.

Yet another book by the famous storyteller Roald Dahl has been transferred to the silver screen. To be honest I have not read the book but I can assure you that the film consists of all the sinister irony, the creepiness and an amusing touch of morbidity which dominates all the fairy tales this fellow has printed on paper. The Witches is a rather forgotten little gem with a biting script, an engaging direction and entertaining performances from the entire cast. Roald Dahl (and consequently the writer and the director) made his own version of witchcraft. He used scary images and frightening themes not to insult the occult fans but simply to poke fun at some cliched lore and legends. As a result the film suffered from a severe identity crisis and failed to reach a target audience: a bit too dark for kids and the adults easily misjudged it as a run-of-the-mill childish corny movie. No wonder the film is to date an unknown fantasy flick. However for the lucky viewers it is a fondly remembered satire with a cult status.

Luke (Jasen Fisher) is a little boy whose parents take him on vacation to visit his grandmother Helga (Mai Zetterling). Helga has Norwegian origin and knows many things about witches, evil creatures which manage to lure small children only to kill them later. Apparently Helga has encountered a witch in her childhood. Luke seems to enjoy his grandmother's stories. When Luke's parents are killed in a car accident Helga takes the orphaned child under her custody and does her best to fill the void. When Luke is attacked by a strange woman who most probably was a witch, Helga realizes that her grandson has suffered enough already and needs a break. The two of them take a getaway trip to a luxurious British hotel by the seashore. During their residence in the hotel, a convention is being conducted by a group of women calling themselves "The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children." Their leader is Miss Ernst (Anjelica Huston), an aristocratic lady whose gothic and sharp characteristics seem to vaguely ring some bells in Helga's memory. Luke accidentally attends the convention only to find out it is actually a coven of the hideous witches his granny has described to the last detail. The witches hide their ugly real faces under masks. Miss Ernst is of course the notorious Grand High Witch, the most repelling, terrifying, powerful and infernal of them all. The Grand High Witch is fed up with her underlings and decides that enough time has been wasted: therefore she forms a master plan according to which they will eliminate easily all the children in the country. It is now up to Luke and Helga to save the United Kingdom from this massacre.

The imagery used by the director is effective and plays a crucial part for the atmosphere of the movie. Congratulations to the SFX and make up crew for their awesome depiction of the bare skulled sorcerers. Yeah, yeah it is quite scary for kids but whatever. Dahl never cared for stereotypes and neither should we. The whole concept is a multileveled parody: firstly the childish phobias of mean witches are depicted pleasantly. Secondly, the underlying metaphor the film tries to pull off at how cruel these social workers and charity people can be, instead of preventing the cruelty, is funny. There are also many other humorous scenes (obviously wanting to counter balance the scary ones) like when Bruno, an overweight spoiled rich bulimic boy who was transformed into a mouse by the witches, says compliantly to his freaked parents "Don't take it so hard mom! You did after all want me to lose weight, didn't you?" Speaking of the mouse, I would also like to make a reference to the professional puppeteering and dubbing SFX by Jim Henson which are very successful. Generally the effects for this movie are well crafted and not at all dated. The director also did a good job in setting the creepy scenes or the action sequences (like the finale).

The casting was also inspired. I liked seeing Fisher in the central role, not necessarily because he gives a standout performance but because we finally get a real character and not a piece of cardboard. Luke doesn't apply to any of the stereotypes we see in cinema generally. He is not the cute and painfully sappy sweet little boy, or the nerdy goof and he is definitely NOT the do-it-all superhero who destroys everything in his wind-blowing path (a la Dennis the Menace or Home Alone). Mai Zetterling (who is also the narrator) gives a warm performance as the wise grandmother and also the most dramatic one of the entire film. She provides therefore the human element of tragedy in the movie. Anjelica Huston arguably steals the show in a challenging role. She is exceptional being threatening and spooky (not necessarily in her real grotesque appearance but with her ice cold stare). The kid who plays Bruno adds much comic relief in an obviously preachy role about the sin of gluttony. Oh, there is also a cameo by a then obscure Rowan Atkinson who is sadly underused. For you obsessed Atkinson fans out there you may check him out in a verbal (albeit brief) character.

Enough said, I think. The Witches is a strange film which has a perfect (but misunderstood) balance between a dark fairy tale and a snicky adult satire. It is well worth watching for fantasy fans anywhere. I don't know if it is the best (or faithful) ADAPTATION of Dahl's novel, but I believe sincerely that it is the best MOVIE BASED on a Roald Dahl novel. Recommended? You betsa.

THE WITCHES 8.5 / 10

The boy Luke (Jasen Fisher) is spending vacation in Norway at the house of his grandmother Helga Eveshim (Mai Zetterling) house with his parents. She tells stories of evil witches and how her best childhood friend was kidnapped by a witch. Out of the blue, Luke's parents have a car accident and die and Helga becomes Luke's guardian. They move to England and one day, a woman approaches and speaks to Luke, but he identifies that she is a witch. One day, Helga falls ill and her doctor tells that it is her diabetes. She decides to travel to a seaside hotel to recover from her diabetes. On the arrival, Luke befriends the fat boy Bruno Jenkins (Charlie Potter) and has problems with the manager Mr. Stringer (Rowan Atkinson) because of his pet white mice. Meanwhile a group of women from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children arrive for a convention with their leader Miss Eva Ernst (Anjelica Huston). But soon Luke learns that Eva is indeed the Grand High Witch and their convention is to distribute a magic potion to turn boys into mice in England. When the Grand High Witch sees Luke, she turns him into a mouse. What will the boy do?

"The Witches" is one of the most delightful movies from the 90's. This film has not aged and the timeless story is wonderful no matter the age of the viewer. That cast is perfect and Anjelica Huston is fantastic in the role of a powerful witch. The make-up and special effects are magnificent and still impressive twenty-seven years later. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Convenção das Bruxas" ("Witches Convention")

This is the movie adaption you should watch - The Witches from 1990 got more charm, is more enchanting and got the better cast. Yes, the special effects of the new adaption are stronger, but that's it. If you got family time in front of your TV, put Nicolas Roeg's adaption on screen. The Witches 1990 is a great joy ride with some really ugly and mean witches, who get what they deserve. Still great, charming and entertaining with lots of fun ideas. Great classic book by Roald Dahl too.

This is a movie which is highly underrated. It is a fantastic adventure about a young boy and his wise grandma who go on vacation along the English coast. Unknowlingly running into Grandma's most feared enemy- the Grand High Witch. When Luke accidentally crosses paths with the Grand High Witch and her Witch minions, it is up to him, Bruno Jenkins, and Grandma to save all the children of England!

Anjelica Huston does a marvelous job at portraying the snobbishly aristocratic Eva Ernst as well as her unmasked counterpart, the evil Grand High Witch. She definitely steals the show in this one, although Mai Zetterling does give one that warm nurturing feeling as the wise but kind grandma. And Jasen Fisher did a good job as well.

Not only is the acting good, but the special effects.. or should i see puppets and makeup.. are marvelous! The grand high witch without her face mask is really a terrible sight! And the little mice, really puppets opposed to the technological computer created special effects, really work out great and give a more earthy feel non animated animal movies.

If your an adult and your looking for a nail biting psychological thriller your looking in a very wrong direction. But if you are looking for a classic, fun, adventure for all ages- I suggest you watch this. I give it an A+.

When the creator of "Sesame Street" and "The Muppets" joins forces with the director of "Walkabout" and "Don't Look Now" for an adaptation of a Roald Dahl book, you know that you're in for something neat. And "The Witches" is just that. While the emphasis is the boy trying to stop the sorceresses from turning England's children into mice, the movie really belongs to Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch. The sequences in the conference room and the restaurant have to be some of the coolest scenes ever put on film. I suspect that they had a lot of fun creating those effects. This is the perfect movie for Halloween. I understand that the movie changed a number of things from the book, but on its own this is one enjoyable movie. I recommend it.

And now for the other cast members. Playing the hotel owner is Rowan Atkinson, whom we know as the well meaning but inept Mr. Bean. Brenda Blethyn (Bruno's mom) and Jane Horrocks (the Grand High Witch's assistant) later co-starred in "Little Voice", although Blethyn had a lead role in Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies".

As a kid, Roald Dahl held a reputation as the "thinking child's" favorite author. His stories always had an undertone of darkness about them, a cruel edge. Even his lighter stories, like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," doesn't spare its young characters. Later in life, when I discovered that Dahl also wrote dark thrillers and even erotica, it wasn't surprising. Dahl's style has always made him a rough fit for Hollywood, who like their children flicks to be safe and sanitized. When Dahl adaptations do turn out alright, like "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," they tend to only loosely resemble their source material. Which brings me to "The Witches," a surprisingly macabre family film.

"The Witches" starts appropriately, as a dark fairy tale told by a grandmother to her grandson. The old woman lays down the movie's ground rules. Witches are evil inhuman beings, with purple eyes, no toes, and bald heads. They live to murder children, who smell like dog droppings to them. The parents are killed in a car crash soon afterwards, leaving Luke alone with his grandmother. After a diabetic attack, the old woman is sent to a English hotel to recuperate, joined by her grandson. Fate would have it that the hotel, that same weekend, would be holding a gathering of witches, led by the Grand High Witch. There, the boy overhears the witches' newest plot, a plan to turn of all of England's children into mice.

"The Witches" is a children's film. Its protagonist is the kind of can-do, heroic kid usually seen in films of this type. The story's climatic thrust depends on a child outsmarting adults, another stalwart feature of the genre. There's almost a layer of "gee-shucks" sincerity to the way Luke interacts with his grandmother and the other boy his age. Luke and his friend Bruno spends the entire second half of the film in the form of a mouse, which allows for all sorts of cute antics. The emotional center of the story is the boy's relationship with his grandmother, one of safety and warmth. The film ultimately does not transcend the genre.

But, boy, does it try. "The Witches" is amazingly grotesque at times, enough so that you can fairly categorize it as a kid-friendly horror film. The film makes it clear, from the beginning, that witches want to kill children. It doesn't use any softer synonyms or dance around it. The film's highlight is the witches' meeting. Angelica Huston's head witch removes her skin and hair, revealing a grotesque true face, her skin stretching, body contorting. It's a moment of body horror worthy of Cronenberg. The Grand High Witch has the wart covered skin, sunken eyelids, and hook nose of your stereotypical witch but the film extends the stereotypes to their extreme. That sequence also features a whole room of old women revealing stub feet and balding, scaly heads. The image of young boys similarly stretching and morphing into a mouse is equally unsettling. The finale, a room of witches shrinking into mice, maintains those nasty creature effects. Though the Jim Henson Creature Studio effects are somewhat cartoony I bet they still provided many young watchers with vivid nightmares.

Another thing to like about "The Witches" is the mythological footprint it puts on the witch concept. The script treats witches as if they were vampires or werewolves, classical monsters with specific traits, powers, and weaknesses. The script speaks in sweeping, fable-like terms. All witches are evil, devoted to murdering kids. Why? Because they're monsters, that's why. Their nasty appearances match their attitudes, only able to disguise their evil for so long.

The movie is also helped out by its strong cast. Anjelica Huston is delightfully over-the-top as the film's villain, the wicked head witch. She speaks with a cartoonish German accent, fully committed to the material. Even while under extensive make-up, the actress' mannerisms are visible. Mai Zetterling is also notable as the grandmother, warm but with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Though a bit flat as the young lead, Jasen Fisher is a strong enough actor to carry his role. His performance actually improves when the character is turned into a mouse, the young actor's voice working quite well.

Nicolas Roeg's usually stylish direction is muted a bit here but he still pulls off some memorable visuals. The film is uniformly strong up until the very end. The script wimps out, providing an unlikely solution to the hero's problem, de-mouse-fying him at the last minute. It's an especially lazy screen writing decision and the only blotch on an otherwise strong film, a surprisingly twisted kids flick.

Her wicked spells play with my mind, blurring the line between reality and illusion. I become entranced by her tricks, willingly falling deeper into her spell. Yet, amidst the darkness, I see glimpses of vulnerability and longing in her eyes. Beneath her sinister facade lies a woman yearning for love and acceptance. She seeks solace in the shadows, hiding her true self from a judgmental world. Perhaps, it is this misplaced fear that drives her to embrace her darker nature. She seeks to be my sinister witch, not out of malice, but as a form of self-preservation. She has learned to weaponize her pain, using it as a shield against those who dare try to break her. And so, I am left to navigate the depths of her twisted enchantments, unsure of whether to fear or to embrace her. For she is both my undoing and my salvation, a wicked enchantress who holds the key to unlocking the deepest recesses of my soul..

Reviews for "Entwined in Darkness: Understanding the Sinister Witch's Web of Deception"

1. Sarah - 1/5 Stars

I found "She seeks to be my sinister witch" to be incredibly dull and lacking in substance. The plot was weak and disjointed, making it difficult for me to engage with the characters or their motivations. The writing style felt forced and contrived, with unnecessary additions that did nothing to enhance the story. Overall, I was extremely disappointed with this novel and would not recommend it to anyone looking for a captivating and well-crafted read.

2. Jason - 2/5 Stars

"She seeks to be my sinister witch" had an interesting premise, but the execution fell flat. The pacing was slow, and the story lacked the necessary tension and suspense to keep me engaged. The characters were underdeveloped, and their actions often seemed illogical and inconsistent. The dialogue felt stilted and unnatural, further detracting from my overall enjoyment of the book. While the author had potential, this particular novel missed the mark for me.

3. Emma - 2/5 Stars

I had high hopes for "She seeks to be my sinister witch," but unfortunately, it failed to deliver. The plot was predictable and filled with cliches, leaving little room for originality or surprises. The writing style was mediocre at best, with awkward phrasing and repetitive descriptions. I also struggled to connect with the main character, as her actions and motivations were often unclear. Overall, this book left me feeling unsatisfied and uninterested in exploring more of the author's work.

4. Michael - 1/5 Stars

"She seeks to be my sinister witch" was a complete disappointment for me. The story lacked depth and failed to grab my attention from the beginning. The pacing was uneven, with long stretches of boredom followed by rushed and confusing scenes. The author's attempts at creating a dark and atmospheric setting fell flat, as the descriptions lacked detail and failed to evoke any sense of place. I found myself skimming through the pages, waiting for something interesting to happen, but it never did. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a captivating and engaging read.

5. Emily - 2/5 Stars

I'm sorry to say that "She seeks to be my sinister witch" did not live up to my expectations. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it difficult to care about their fates. The story itself had potential, but it was executed poorly, with a lack of tension and a predictable plot. The writing style was also a letdown, with clunky sentences and awkward dialogue. Overall, this book failed to engage me, and I would not recommend it to others.

Wicked Wisdom: Unveiling the Secrets of the Sinister Witch's Knowledge