The Worst Witch

Movie Review: The Worst Witch (1986)

This delightful 1986 TV movie is now firmly entrenched in generations of children’s cozy favorite Halloween viewing. Adapted from the series of children’s books by Jill Murphy, this lovely film is the story of Mildred Hubble, a young clumsy witch in Miss Cackle’s Academy of Magic for Witches. It may lack special effects and a great screenplay nor does it have a big budget but “The Worst Witch” stands out for its warm setting and unforgettable and unique characters.

Plot Overview
Perhaps, the film is centered on Mildred Hubble depicted by young Fairuza Balk, with those beautiful eyes. Mildred is the main character of the movie – she is endearing herself as an inexperienced witch who tends to get into more trouble than anyone else. She stumbles to learn the elementary spells, screws her lessons, and always emerges on the wrong end of bullying from her fellow students—particularly, Ethel Hallow. Mildred appears to do everything wrong, including damaging her spells when attempting to fix them, or accidentally causing something she didn’t intend to and gets the title of the worst witch in the academy.

This part of the narrative becomes funny any time Mildred finds herself in a plan to depose Miss Cackle, the headmistress played by Charlotte Rae, who also portrays Agatha Cackle, the head witch’s evil twin sister. It is a miracle Milly rises to the challenge of saving the school and the only person who believes in her: Charlie, with all her ‘raw’ talent.

Cast and Performances
It remains poignant and believable that Fairuza Balk can turn Mildred into a likable character. Even though she is not the most graceful or coordinated heroine I have ever seen in anime, one cannot help to want to see her succeed. Balk portrays the essence of childhood and the desire to succeed even when one fails not to impress anyone. The star role of both the benign Miss Cackle and her wicked sister Agatha is played by Charlotte Rae who is satisfactory in both roles in that she is gentle and loving in the former and diabolically wicked in the latter. One of the features that make the film striking is the fact that she plays two different characters.

Still, I think that the greatest acting is to be seen by Tim Curry who takes the part of The Grand Wizard. He only appears for about five minutes of screen time but I dare say that he is unforgettable: he wears a zany costume, acts out of turn, and performs a ridiculously entertaining song ‘Anything Can Happen on Halloween’. Part of the camp of the character of Cisco is brought to life through the performance of Tim Curry; he is campy and magical at the same time, this is very much in tune with the whole magical world of the movie.

Production and Aesthetic
Perhaps the last of the series of successes of the film concentrating on the aspects of its uniqueness: one of which is its distinct opposite color combinations and rather fairy-tale-looking set design. Magical Academy takes in a huge old castle-shaped tower with windows, crooked towers, gothic classrooms, and bubbling cauldrons and potions. By today’s standards, the special effects throughout the movie are extremely basic and would not look out of place in a 1986 swipe-and-scrawl helter-skelter production however, this face fails to detract from the movie’s qualities. The majority of phantasmagoria features witches soaring on broomsticks that appear unstable as if they are amateurs, and the comedic aspect of the film lends it an amateur, homemade appearance.

The sequences of music contribute a lot to exploring characters in the film, especially played by Curry in the Halloween song. The songs are surprisingly catchy and certainly have a fun creepiness and play into the film being a cult classic when it comes to Halloween movies.

Final Verdict
That is why the feature does not have the characteristics of a perfect film, which is one of the things about it that make for its endearing charm. It is very innocent and uncomplicated text-wise with humorous characters and if you are a child of the eighties you’ll love it if not you’ll find it a breath of fresh air. At the same time, the effects are dated, and the performances, particularly from Balk and Curry more than make up for it. If you are a fan of fairly silly fantasy or Halloween kind of movies, Worst Witch is simply great.