Anjelica Huston in “The Witches" at Rozz-Tox -- September 7.
Saturday, September 7, 8:30 p.m.
Rozz-Tox, 2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Lauded by legendary film critic Roger Ebert as "ambitious and inventive, and almost worth seeing just for Anjelica Huston's obvious delight in playing a completely uncompromised villainess," director Nicolas Roeg's The Witches enjoys an outdoor screening in Rozz-Tox's "Garden Cinema '90s Family Night" series on September 7, with Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus adding that "Roeg's dark and witty movie captures the spirit of Roald Dahl's writing like few other adaptations."
In this adaptation of Dahl's 1983 book, Young Luke and his parents visit his grandmother Helga in Norway during vacation, and she tells stories of evil witches, such as how her best childhood friend was kidnapped by one. After Luke's parents die in a car accident, Helga becomes his guardian, and they move to England. One day, a woman approaches Luke, but he recognizes that she's a witch. When Helga falls ill and her doctor diagnoses diabetes, she and Luke travel to a seaside hotel, where Luke befriends plump Bruno Jenkins and has problems with hotel manager Mr. Stringer over his pet white mice. Meanwhile, a group of women from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children arrive for a convention, led by Miss Eva Ernst. But soon Luke learns that Eva is indeed the Grand High Witch, and their convention is to distribute a magic potion to turn boys in England into mice.
Released in 1990, The Witches was the last film project that executive producer Jim Henson worked on before his death, with Jim Henson Productions co-producing the film and Jim Henson's Creature Shop designing and building the prosthetics for the witches and animatronic rats and mice that were used interchangeably with real mice. With the cast including Anjelica Huston (as Miss Eva Ernst), Rowan Atkinson, Brenda Blethyn, and Jane Horrocks, The Witches was filmed between April and mid-August of 1988. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on May 25, 1990, and in the United States on August 24, with the early portions of the film shot in Bergen, Norway. Much of the rest was shot on location in England including Cookham, Berkshire, and at the Headland Hotel, situated on the coast in Newquay, Cornwall. And although the film currently sits with a 93-percent "freshness" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Roald Dahl himself notoriously called the movie "utterly appalling," incensed as he was that the film changed the book's original ending.
The Witches will be screened in the Rock Island venue's outdoor garden area on September 7, and admission to the 8:30 p.m. showing is free. The event is weather-permitting, and the guests are asked to bring blankets or lawn chairs, and to refrain from bringing outside good and drink, as the service window will be open. Quiet and friendly dogs are also welcome, and more information on the night is available by calling (309)200-0978 and visiting RozzTox.com.
