The Worst Witch

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-10-06 rating:
Loved it since childhood
My nan bought this film on video when i was a little nipper and i would put it on whenever i went to visit her. Me and my cousins would sit and sing along with the songs and knew the whole script! The video is still going strong and my cousins 3 and 8 year old daughters sit and sing along to it too. Was very happy to find it now comes on DVD. An absolute classic!

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review by: technical geek date: 2007-05-27 rating:
A Classic British TV Film from the 80's
I remember this film from when I was a kid. My friend was Gloria Hobgobgoblin and we used to talk about it when she was making the film. i even saw a copy of the script. I was just 11 or twelve when it was filmed. I remember watching it on TV that Halloween. It was very cheesey but I enjoyed it, especially since I spent the whole time looking out for my friend!

A few years on, and I came across the film on IMDB and started to read the boards. It reminded me of my old friend and I ordered a copy of the dvd from Amazon marketplace in November 2006. I did not know they were re-releasing it over here for a third of the price!!

I watched it again, and there was my friend, just as I remembered her. I now have a seven year old and she loves it too! She cries out "Look mummy here's your friend!" whenever Gloria Hobgoblin is on the screen, but she loves the Tim Curry Musical interlude the best. She has just started to watch it on continuous repeat!!

It is wierd to see Fairuza as such a young child and then imagine her in the film The Craft!! It shows how she improved her acting over those few years.

I feel really proud to be connected with this film, even by association. It's a piece of classic British TV and takes me back to memory lane.

If you want clean fun and bad acting for your kids then this is the perfect family film!! Enjoy!!


review by: date: 2007-04-18 rating:
Very dated compared to ITV's version, but it still seems to be a hit with the kids (well preteen girls anyway)
This is the first TV film adaptation of Jill Murphy's book 'The worst witch', made around 1986. The original book was published ten years earlier (1975), and there are now another four books in the series. All the books are an easy read for preteens (8+ or less if being read to). These Worst Witch stories are based around Mildred Hubble, a young witch starting at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches (a secondary boarding school for witches). Despite good intentions Mildred is always getting into trouble and it seems that she can't do anything right. Plus there are plenty of snooty enemies in her class who are more than happy to make her look bad. This film follows the preparation of the school for The Halloween Festival and the unwelcome appearance of Headmistress Agatha Cackle's evil twin sister. There are also a few musical numbers as well (e.g. `Growing up isn't easy' and `Halloween is my favourite time of the year'). The Worst Witch is often cited as an inspiration for Harry Potter, but it lacks those book's home life and complete world view, and is generally as humorous but far less dark. Plus Mildred's charm, like eternal preteen schoolboy 'Just' William, is that she never grows up. In fact HP and Worst Witch follow on from the English boarding school literary tradition of classic books like Stalky & Co, Malory Towers, Jennings, St. Clare's, Billy Bunter, How to be topp, and St. Trinians (hi-jinks away from parental control).

This film has an all star cast including Brits Diana Rigg (Miss Hardbroom) and a flamboyant Tim Curry (The Grand Wizard), plus Americans Charlotte Rae (Miss Cackle and her evil twin) and Fairuza Balk (Mildred Hubble - the worst witch). The mix of accents, cheesy production, `adaquate' picture quality and the relatively poor special effects in this film are the main negatives, and it compares rather unfavourably with ITV's later classy effort in 1998 (essential viewing for girls over six). Personally I am not completely taken with Fairuza's performance as Mildred (probably just because of her accent), although she was excellent as Dorothy in the film 'Return to Oz' a year earlier. However this film does have its devoted followers, largely those who saw it on first transmission as a child. This Worst Witch DVD comes with a few extras: Elements of witch potions and spells [an all text PowerPoint type presentation of the best herbs, oils and stones for say 'Health and happiness' or 'Good luck' spells], plus there's Cast Trivia and Cast Profiles - all text again but not uninteresting [e.g. In 1985 when she was 12 Fairuza moved to the UK and spent a while here honing her acting and ballet skills. In 1995, she bought the oldest occult shop in the US and is still a co-owner].

I got this DVD for my daughter (when 9) and she has happily watched it many times, despite having and loving both seasons of the later ITV Worst Witch. So in spite of it's age this film can still attract a young, probably all girl, audience. That said my son [8] has watched the movie a few times with his sister and quite enjoyed it. So definitely try this film if your child likes the later ITV Worst Witch (1998) and New Worst Witch (2005) TV series, as it's different enough to be seen as a prequel. Plus it is now going very cheaply on Amazon for 70 minutes entertainment - and you can actually buy it in the UK (unlike much of ITV's rather superior Worst Witch series).

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Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Children's . All Children's
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