Roald Dahl’s witches don’t ride on broomsticks or have pointy noses. Instead they wear ordinary clothes, hold normal jobs and act just like regular people except for one thing: they find children repulsive and want to exterminate them like vermin. Totally normal. Naturally, when Jim Henson adapted Dahl’s 1983 story to film, the result was frightening. The witches “stalk the wretched child like a hunter,” as the main character, Luke, learns from his elderly grandmother. Later, while vacationing in a hotel, Luke accidentally discovers an annual witch convention. What happens to Luke when he confronts the main witch, played in the film by Angelica Huston? We’ll give you a hint: At some point, he’s turned into a mouse.
