Return from Witch Mountain (1978)

In this thrilling sequel to Disney's ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN, automobiles mysteriously fly and humans float in thin air as sinister masterminds Christopher Lee and Bette Davis unleash a diabolical plan. The entire city of Los Angeles teeters on the brink of nuclear disaster when the greedy criminals manipulate a young boy's supernatural powers for their own devious gain. But the youth's sister and a streetwise band of truants join forces in a desperate attempt to save the city from destruction.

This deserves a spot on Mystery Science Theater 3000!!!

That's how cheesy it was!! I like "Escape from" but the sequel was VERY bad! October 30, 2008

Unbelievably BAD: A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME & FILM...

I grabbed this at the library as they didn't have much else to choose from and thought at the very least it might be entertaining to see Bette Davis in a Disney film.

WRONG. "Return From Witch Mountain" is SO horribly dated -- especially the laughable "special" (not) effects -- let alone the stale script and the hokey acting by the teen leads, that it's truly the prime example of why the Disney Studio almost went out of business in the late 1970's.

Even the commentary by director John Hough and now-grown actors Ike Eisenmann and the gravel-voiced Kim RIchards (sister of "Mother of the Year" Kathy Hilton, aunt of Paris) is tedious at best.

Hough's comments are especially boring and almost embarrassing, confirming his poor direction of this film. He even (repeatedly) pronounces Bette Davis' name wrong, which I'm sure she loved, calling her "Bett". An inexcusable insult, especially after working with her. Note that in his 40 year career, Hough has made virtually nothing worth remembering, including this prize turkey.

So bad, it's not even worth it for FREE at the public library. January 27, 2008

More Special Effects than the Original, but Weaker

This 1978 movie was a follow up to the 1975 movie, "Escape to Witch Mountain." The original was more charming and clever than this movie, though this movie featured many more special effects than the original. Even though this movie was more formulaic than the original, it is worth having and watching, particularly if you enjoyed the original.

Tony (Ike Eisenmann) and Tia (Kim Richards) are back again. This time they are taking a vacation in Los Angeles as a reward for their efforts in helping their people establish the settlement at Witch Mountain. Uncle Bene (Denver Pyle) drops Tony and Tia off at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, where Tony and Tia catch a cab.

Things go awry almost immediately. The cab runs out of gas. The cab driver walks down the block to get more. While Tony and Tia are waiting for the driver to return, Tony senses that a man is about to fall from a building. What Tony does not know is that the man falls during an experiment conducted by Dr. Victor Gannon (Christopher Lee). Letha (Bette Davis) is financing Dr. Gannon's experiments.

Dr. Gannon recognizes Tony's potential immediately. If Dr. Gannon could combine Tony's mental powers with his mental control device, Dr. Gannon could have incredible power. Dr. Gannon captures Tony and they all return to Letha's house, where Dr. Gannon installs a control device on Tony. Unfortunately, Letha has significant financial problems and her goals are somewhat more immediate and financially oriented.

Letha and her nephew Sickle (Anthony James) take Tony and the control device to a museum that is displaying $3 million in gold. Since this movie is a Disney movie, we know that the heist will have to fail in some way. The heist fails when Tia shows up, supported by a gang of four boys. Tia begins interfering with Tony's disruption of the museum, and causes Letha, Sickle and Tony to leave in haste. Tia was not involved in trying to put $3 million in heavy gold into a station wagon, which you will have to see for yourself.

Dr. Gannon is furious, but he decides that perhaps he could combine his desire for power with Letha's need for money, and he plots to take control of a plutonium processing facility. Before Dr. Gannon and his gang head out, they trick Tia coming to Tony and then they capture her.

The end of the movie increases in excitement as Tia tries to stop Tony from wreaking havoc on the nuclear plant. Tony's actions throughout the movie confuse Tia because she is unaware of the control device until near the end of the movie. I leave the viewer to see how things work out for Tony, Tia, the group of boys that help Tia, Letha, Dr. Gannon, Sickle, and Mr. Yokomoto (Jack Soo), the truant officer who chases after Tia and the boys throughout the movie.

This movie is relatively weak, but I bumped my rating to four stars because of the actors involved and some of the special effects. Christopher Lee is always fun to watch. Letha is one of Bette Davis's lesser roles, but she was a great actress. Kim Richards, who was about 14-years-old at the time this movie was made, is incredibly cute and earnest. Of course, with Tia there has to be Tony, so Ike Eisenmann's presence is a requirement. The special effects range in quality. Some are very weak, but several are outstanding. I particularly enjoy the van scene at the end of the movie, which you will have to watch because I will say no more about that. Several of the scenes in the chase following the attempted museum heist are very good, and make this chase scene one of the better chases in a Disney film, particularly from this era.

This movie was almost too late. "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" shocked the world with breakthrough special effects in 1977. Subsequent films topped each other with ever-better stories and special effects. Had this movie come any later, there may not have been an audience for it in theaters, and direct-to-video releases were still in the future. Lucky for us this film was made so we can see, once more, the duo that charmed us in "Escape to Witch Mountain."

Enjoy!
January 1, 2007

"RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN" FOR MORE CHILLS & THRILLS!

Disney's sequel to its' popular sci-fi adventure, "Escape to Witch Mountain," is even more entertaining than the original. Kim Richards and Ike Eisemann reprise their roles as Tony and Tia, the super power siblings that have just returned to Earth in their shiny disc shaped flying saucer. The kids are now in their teens and are once again preyed upon by criminal masterminds, this time Christopher Lee (of Hammer Studio's Dracula fame) and the legendary Queen of the Silver Screen herself, Bette Davis. Disney did itself proud with this sequel, which has lots more special effects, lots more kid actors (including Brad Savage who played Kim's brother in Disney's "No Deposit, No Return.") and a great story with fine performances by all, especially Kim and Ike. The dvd special edition has a clean transfer and great audio, featuring entertaining interviews with Kim and Ike, plus three of the "kid's street gang," Brad Savage (Muscles), Christian Juttner (Dazzler), and Poindexter Yothers (Crusher). I highly recommend "Return from Witch Mountain," as well as it's predecessor, "Escape to Witch Mountain," to young viewers and Disney live-action movie fans. These movies may not be able to compare with today's computer generated CGI effects, but they make up the difference with the more important ability to entertain with performances by a fine cast and to project that "Disney charm" which the new Disney films sadly lack.

**UPDATE!** "Escape To Witch Mountain" and "Return From Witch Mountain" are now available both on one DVD disc, and sadly missing ALL of the movie trailers, commentaries, and extras that were part of the 2003 individual single disc "Special Edition" releases. If your only interested in the movies themselves (which are a lot of fun!) then this "2 Movie Collection" version is the way to go. I'm glad I got the "special edition" versions when I did, however, you can still get them from Amazon sellers, and no doubt for a sweet deal, too! March 23, 2006

LOved it

I saw the original when I was three and didn't realy rember it. So when i saw the seqill on the hellmark i was ammazed to see there was a sequill i never new about. March 7, 2006

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