A creepy remake of the Roald Dahl classic
Roald Dahl’s classic, The Witches, has been reimagined and remade for Halloween.
The new remake on HBO Max has been directed by Robert Zemeckis and features Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci and the voice of Chris Rock.
The original film featured Angelica Huston, Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn and Rowan Atkinson in the cast and was directed by Nicolas Roeg.
Let’s get one thing straight, this is a reimagined version of The Witches, which is very creative but it does detract from the creative marvel that is the story by Dahl.
The story revolves around a young boy, Luke, and his grandmother played by Octavia Spencer, who happens to stumble upon a witches convention at a luxury hotel where they are resting.
The Grand High Witch, played by Anne Hathaway, is in attendance and hatches a plan to rid the world of children.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, who has a long list of successful films including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, just to name a few. But I am unsure why he has dived in head first to direct this classic and also move away from the original story.
Roald Dahl’s classic is equally as imaginative and haunting. Roald Dahl is often credited as teaching kids to use their imagination as his books are just so creative that you can’t help but wonder if Dahl had a child’s mind when it came to storytelling.
The Zemeckis version of The Witches isn’t as creepy and scary as the original. You watch the film and you kind of think of Disney or saccharine remake. The idea of how witches came about is discussed but it isn’t as gruesome or chilling. Also the ending of this remake is far removed from the original story and most annoying.
Olivia Spencer as Grandmother is charming and fun. There is something loving and joyous about Spencer’s performance and you really do feel she has done a tremendous job recreating this role.
Stanley Tucci as the Mr. Stringer, the Hotel Manager, is funny and quirky, but there are scenes that he has recreated from the original. In fact in the original film a mouse runs up the pants of a chef in the kitchen and he freaks out removing his trousers. In the remake the Hotel Manager, Mr. Stringer, does exactly the same thing when a mouse runs up his trouser leg. Just something that I happened to notice and don’t know why it was copied from the original.
Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch is fun, but the character could have been taken so much further. Watching Hathaway in the role is enjoyable but I would have loved to have seen her freak out another generation of children like Angelica Huston did in the original.
The Witches is a great story to creep out kids and adults alike on Halloween. This remake is a lot of fun for the whole family. But I would suggest that you watch the original afterwards if you want to see something a little more dark and creepy that will give you goosebumps and lookout for strange old women with purple eyes!
The remake of The Witches with Anne Hathaway in currently available on HBO Max and the original with Angelica Huston is available on Netflix.
