Return From Witch Mountain --- DMC Exclusive

[TheGeneral]

For the first time on Blu-ray, Disney is releasing Return From Witch Mountain on Blu-ray, for the first time, exclusive to Disney Movie Club members.
Disney Movie Club Official thread

Coinciding with this release, DMC is also exclusively releasing Escape to Witch Mountain

If a DMC member, the information for it is:
$24.95
ID: TBA

Releasing October 13th, 2015


Previously released DMC exclusives:
Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Apple Dumpling Gang
Herbie the Love Bug
Herbie Rides Again
Herbie Goes Bananas
Old Yeller
Pollyanna
Return To Oz

[jetthead]

I kind of liked this movie when I was a kid.

[TheGeneral]

Artwork:

[The Great Owl]

Years after being reunited with their extraterrestrial family at Witch Mountain, Tia and Tony, two children played respectively by Kim Richards (Assault on Precinct 13) and Ike Eisenmann (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), travel in a flying saucer to Los Angeles for a vacation. They are quickly separated, however, when Tony is kidnapped by the evil Dr. Victor Gannon, played by the legendary Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man), and the greedy Letha Wedge, played by none other than Bette Davis (All About Eve), both of whom wish to take advantage of his psychic powers for their own nefarious purposes. It's up to Tia to rescue her brother and save the day, with the help of the coolest and baddest street gang of kids in the city, a bewildered truant officer, and a goat.

The 1978 live-action Disney sequel, Return from Witch Mountain, which was directed by John Hough (Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, The Legend of Hell House), never quite ascends to the level of its 1975 predecessor, Escape to Witch Mountain, also helmed by Hough, and it does not possess the same nostalgic appeal in my eyes, but it nonetheless succeeds as one of the most endearingly weird children's movies in existence. This is undoubtedly the closest that a G-rated Disney family film has ever come to grindhouse drive-in exploitation cinema, because of its street gang fights, its Shaft-style funky music soundtrack, a lively car chase through the city, the presence of acclaimed supporting actor Anthony James (The Teacher, Vanishing Point, High Plains Drifter), and, of course, the Hammer Studios horror credibility of Lee himself.

Everything about this sequel is bonkers, but, through it all, Richards and Eisenmann stay true to their earnest and believable characters. Their climactic battle of telekinetic wits at a nuclear plant, while Tony is under the mind control of Victor, even gives the present-day X-Men films a run for their money.

Kudos to everyone involved for keeping Return from Witch Mountain in the air, despite its noticeably more slapstick tone compared to the first film. High marks go to Christopher Lee and Bette Davis in particular for hamming it up in their usual wonderful ways.

While revisiting this movie decades after having last seen it, I had a good laugh at the fact that the old dilapidated house where the gang of kids hangs out resembles the house where Tyler Durden resides in Fight Club.

Incidentally, Return from Witch Mountain would not be the last time that a character played by Kim Richards rolled with a street gang. Years later, she would star alongside James Spader in the 1985 movie, Tuff Turf, as the girlfriend of a gang leader.

This bare bones Disney Exclusive Blu-ray does not include any special features, but it features a good high definition presentation of the film itself. The movie itself is the main attraction, of course, because it has a goat riding a taxi cab.

[octobercountry]

After last night’s journey to Witch Mountain, I decided to dive right into the sequel, “Return From Witch Mountain.” The first film was popular enough that Disney decided to return (heh) to the well three years later, in 1978.

Though, perhaps they shouldn’t have… This film is completely different in tone from the first, and in fact makes the first look like a masterpiece in comparison. Let’s be blunt--- “Return From Witch Mountain” is kinda terrible. I don’t think it would be inaccurate to describe this as a real dud. It has a stupid plot filled with stupid characters acting stupidly.

This was an original script, not based upon anything written by Alexander Key (who wrote the original “Escape to Witch Mountain” novel). And yet, when Disney published a novelization of the script in tandem with the release of the film, Key was listed as the author. I don’t know whether he actually had anything to do with adapting the script to book form, however; Disney may have just paid him a fee to be able to slap his name on the cover. I’ve read the book, and it doesn’t really have the feeling of anything written by Key.

The two returning juvenile leads are joined by villains Christopher Lee, Bette Davis, and character actor Anthony James. (James had made quite an impression in “Burnt Offerings” a couple of years earlier, and in fact had become friends with Bette Davis during the production of that film, so here they are together again.)

So---a FANTASTIC cast, who are all totally wasted in this film. What they could have done with a good script… And sad to say, the optical effects are simply awful; again, there’s no reason the special effects couldn’t have been so much better than what we see here.

And yet, I find I rather enjoyed this as a nostalgia view. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is a “so bad it’s good” film, but I do like the cast and enjoy watching them, even in junk like this. And I daresay there’s plenty to amuse the kids---this film really amps up the slapstick. Well, perhaps I should say that the 8-to-12-year-old kids of the late 70s would likely enjoy the film; I don’t know what today’s youth would make of it.

For the adult viewer? Again, an impressive cast. Plus there’s a lot of location work in seedy late-70s Los Angeles, which is so different than the city that exists today. I was most impressed with a derelict Victorian where the kids hang out. I thought it surely must be a real house, not built for the film, so I looked it up and found:

The otherwise vacant lot upon which the children's dilapidated mansion hideout stands was at the Alameda Street railroad yard in California, where the Rochester House (a relic from the 1880s) was waiting for restoration and relocation. The house was never restored and was ultimately demolished in 1979.

It’s a sad story for the Bunker Hill relic---photos can be found here:
http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...rochester.html

So, I’m not going to call this film a “lost treasure” or anything like that. It’s not very good, and yet I find I enjoyed it in an odd way. The blu-ray looks splendid, but is missing all the special features from the old DVD (which include a commentary track---I just can’t resist a good commentary track). So, I went ahead and ordered the old DVD (you can pick it up for just a couple of bucks) so I can see all the extras.