oscaralbert Review of Return from Witch Mountain

Return from Witch Mountain (1978)

The Disney MegaCorp uses animatronic versions . . .

[6/10 · 25 May 2017]

. . . of Bette Davis and Christopher Lee to "star" in this apparent direct-to-video 2009 feature, RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN. Davis and Lee look deader than their namesakes Jefferson and Robert E. as robotic caricatures of themselves. Lee rips off his MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN villain from half a century earlier, while Davis revives one of the roles she originated for Sophocles: Electra. Speaking of rip-offs, the middle third of RETURN totally plagiarizes key plot elements from the NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM series. It's surprising that Disney has yet to trot out RETURN as a Broadway Musical. Most of the action here screams out for romantic duets or sing & dance chorus ensembles. The part of Alfred the Goat would be great for any tenor worth his salt, and Ms. Davis' "Letha" character could be a lethal weapon when armed with coloratura A La FL0RENCE F0STER JENKIN$. Though Disney has bought up the copyrights to The Brothers Grimm, Charles Dickens, and The Holy Bible, that's no excuse for them not exploiting their WITCH MOUNTAIN property for every ounce of "Molecular Mobilization" (including the Au Naturel Hags from Roman Polanski's MACBETH) that it's got.