Witch Mountain

[BrianL]

Recently I was re-watching Escape to Witch Mountain - a movie I haven't seen in a long time but remember liking as a kid (I remember my Sister was really into it). I have seen it since, but it's still been a while. Its a pretty good movie really. It's clearly kind of a lean production, but they did wonders with what they had. The kids were very likeable too - Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann. Anyway, there is a lesser known sequel, Return from Witch Mountain, which is incredibly different despite being from the same director. It has a more late-70's urban style to it. It's not that great but has its moments, mostly thanks to Christopher Lee being in it, playing along with co-villain Bette Davis! Like, how on Earth did THAT happen? So it is what it is, but it's interesting enough I suppose.

That of course led me down the rabbit-hole to discover that there were OTHER Witch Mountain movies made in the 80's and 90's. I was fascinated and actually able to find them on YouTube. Beyond Witch Mountain was a TV pilot shown on the Disney anthology show. It recasts the kids, but brings back Eddie Albert as Jason. It ignores Return and the kids are younger (one of them is Tracey Gold who would later be on Growing Pains), but it could actually take place between the two (though you have to handwave a character death). It never went to series. Weirder than that curiosity though was a 1995 TV movie that is sort of a remake, but with a lot of changes. The kids have different names and the lore is a bit different (the girl is Elizabeth Moss). It also has Robert Vaughn, which is awesome - he makes a great billionnaire villain! It's not half bad, until it is, and it's pretty cheesey. You could almost reconcile the lore, but you'd have to bend a little. It makes me wonder though if a contiguous Witch Mountain universe could be created.

Well, I figured I'd finish it off with The Rock vehicle, Race to Witch Mountain. I remember being excited for this and seeing it in theaters, but being disappointed. Honestly, I'm not sure why - it's not half-bad. I mean, you gotta take it for what it is, and it's a true kid's movie in an era where not a lot of live-action PG movies were being made. Now, the director says that it's not a "reboot" but just a story taking place in the Witch Mountain universe. I think that could be true, but there are a lot of gaps to fill in. The nerd in me wants it to work though, and I think it could. It was nice to give Kim and Ike cameos!

So, is anyone else a fan of any of the Witch Mountain movies? Supposedly there was a new series greenlit for Disney+, but I haven't heard anything about it in a while, so it may be in development hell. On a side note, I had no idea that Kim Richards was on some of the Real Housewives shows - that's just kind of weird.

 

[fla4fun]

Recently I was re-watching Escape to Witch Mountain - a movie I haven't seen in a long time but remember liking as a kid (I remember my Sister was really into it). I have seen it since, but it's still been a while. Its a pretty good movie really. It's clearly kind of a lean production, but they did wonders with what they had. The kids were very likeable too - Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann. Anyway, there is a lesser known sequel, Return from Witch Mountain, which is incredibly different despite being from the same director. It has a more late-70's urban style to it. It's not that great but has its moments, mostly thanks to Christopher Lee being in it, playing along with co-villain Bette Davis! Like, how on Earth did THAT happen? So it is what it is, but it's interesting enough I suppose.

That of course led me down the rabbit-hole to discover that there were OTHER Witch Mountain movies made in the 80's and 90's. I was fascinated and actually able to find them on YouTube. Beyond Witch Mountain was a TV pilot shown on the Disney Anthology show. It recasts the kids, but brings back Eddie Albert as Jason. It ignores Return and the kids are younger (one of them is Tracey Gold who would later be on Growing Pains), but it could actually take place between the two (though you have to handwave a character death). It never went to series. Weirder than that curiosity though was a 1995 TV movie that is sort of a remake, but with a lot of changes. The kids have different names and the lore is a bit different (the girl is Elizabeth Moss). It also has Robert Vaughan, which is awesome - he makes a great billionnaire villain! It's not half bad, until it is, and it's pretty cheesey. You could almost reconcile the lore, but you'd have to bend a little. It makes me wonder though if a contiguous Witch Mountain universe could be created.

Well, I figured I'd finish it off with The Rock vehicle, Race to Witch Mountain. I remember being excited for this and seeing it in theaters, but being disappointed. Honestly, I'm not sure why - it's not half-bad. I mean, you gotta take it for what it is, and it's a true kid's movie in an era where not a lot of live-action PG movies were being made. Now, the director says that it's not a "reboot" but just a story taking place in the Witch Mountain universe. I think that could be true, but there are a lot of gaps to fill in. The nerd in me wants it to work though, and I think I could. It was nice to give Kim and Ike cameos!

So, is anyone else a fan of any of the Witch Mountain movies? Supposedly there was a new series greenlit for Disney+, but I haven't heard anything about it in a while, so it may be in development hell. On a side note, I had no idea that Kim Richards was on some of the Real Housewives shows - that's just kind of weird.

I saw the original Disney film but not the sequel. If you have not read the book, I liked the book much better than the movie. It was a lot more detailed and a little darker in tone.

 

[BrianL]

I saw the original Disney film but not the sequel. If you have not read the book, I liked the book much better than the movie. It was a lot more detailed and a little darker in tone.

I have heard that. We might have had the book when we were kids. I know my sister was really into it. Interestingly, the original author, Alexander Key, wrote the novelization for Return from Witch Mountain, though it was created as a movie first. The sequel is a little bizarre for sure, but I guess he was okay with it. Tony gets mind-controlled by Christopher Lee and Bette Davis to commit crimes, and Tia befriends a laughably non-trheatening purported street gang! Oh, and there's a goat that is integral to the plot. The scariest thing about it was how much work Bette Davis had had done by that time.