The Witches
Directed by Nicolas Roeg
- fantasy
- family
- horror
The story
While staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga, a young boy named Luke inadvertently spies on a convention of witches. The Grand High Witch reveals a plan to turn all children into mice via a magical formula. When they discover the eavesdropper, the witches test the formula on him. Now, with the help of Helga and hotel manager Mr Stringer, Luke the mouse must fight back against the witches.
What it’s like
Bright, slightly sinister seaside light, grand hotel corridors in faded pastels and jewel tones, and a camera that often drops to child height so the world looms large and strange. Director Nicolas Roeg's edits are quick and jittery, and the witches' grotesque makeup, bald heads, clawed gloves and sour grins, is designed to make adults look monstrous. Stanley Myers's score is playful and orchestral, with flourishes of menace, and the sound design leans on clattering footsteps and whispered conspiracy. The vibe is whimsical with a shiver: a children's fable that plays its horror straight, with creepy faces, a few unsettling transformations and real peril rather than gore. Violence is limited and largely cartoonish, though some scenes of children in danger and the witches' sinister chatter can genuinely frighten younger viewers. Pacing is brisk and episodic, building from playful hotel comedy into tenser escapes. Warm moments between a boy and his grandmother give the spookiness an emotional anchor. It suits a Halloween evening, a family viewing with older kids, or a nostalgic rewatch for people who loved gothic children's stories and want something eerie but not cruel.
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