RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN

year: 1978
cast: Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann, Bette Davis
rating: ***1/2

The original, ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN, centered too much on Eddie Albert, his RV, and the villain and not enough of the kids. I realize the kids were the stars but it didn't seem as much their movie as this sequel in which the alien brother and sister take a visit to L.A. and things go wrong really quick. The boy is kidnapped and brainwashed by evil Christopher Lee, his henchman Anthony James, and Lee's seemingly-bad counterpart Bette Davis (who turns good later on). The girl escapes and joins a gang of ten year old street urchins and they plan to rescue the brother. Good versus evil is a lot funner this time around since there are more kids involved. I also enjoyed the climax pitting brother and sister against each other. Chalk this up as another example where the sequel trumps the original. At least for me.

1 comment:

  1. Escape to Witch Mountain is one of my favorite memories as a kid. Pre-Star Wars - one of those old school great 70's kids movies. Of course I saw Escape to Witch Mountain a sickening amount of times in the movie theater back then. I know I only saw Return one time but it's because I had a HUGE crush on Kim Richards.

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