Well before Harry Potter was a gleam in the eye of author J.K. Rowling, there was another would-be conjuror was making the rounds at a school for witches. Mildred Hubble is her name, and she is known as “The Worst Witch.” Based on the book by Jill Murphy, “The Worst Witch” enjoyed life as a movie and short-lived TV series. Both are about to be available on DVD, but it’s the movie I’m going to review today. The story of “The Worst Witch” takes place in Miss Cacckle’s School for Witches, where young Ms. Hubble is simply flunking all her classes. However, as in all good films of this nature, she gets the chance to redeem herself when it is learned that the headmistress has an evil twin who is plotting to take over the school and it’s up to Mildred to save the day. “The Worst Witch” was made back in the 1980’s and it shows. There was obviously a very small budget for special effects as most aren’t very convincing.

Lots of bad blue-screen fill the… uh… screen and there are some songs thrown in for good measure. Some of the songs are admittedly pretty bad. HOWEVER, that does not mean that I don’t recommend the film.

Aside from its technical shortcomings, “The Worst Witch” is still quite fun for younger kids. The story is simple enough and the magic harmless. It’s not very scary, as a matter of fact it kind of harkens back to the type of Halloween I remember enjoying as a child, when the world was a simpler place. The entire cast throws everything into their performances. It’s quite obvious everyone is having fun, and that makes it all the more fun for the kids to watch.

Speaking of the cast, it’s a stellar cast to be sure. Leading the way is Fairuza Balk (who was so good in “Return to Oz”) as Mildred. This was back in the day when she was still kind of a cute kid, and not the bizarre figure she became in later films like “The Craft” or “American History X.” The film also stars Diana Rigg (Mrs. Peel in “The Avengers as a nasty teacher, and Charlotte Rae as both the school’s headmistress and her evil twin. But the piece de résistance is in the casting of Tim Curry. How can you go wrong with Curry in the cast? Here he plays the beloved Grand Wizard, and he gives a performance that is as entertaining as it is peculiar.

“The Worst Witch” isn’t going to down in history as the best spell casting movie ever, and it certainly cannot compete with the mind blowing special effects of the Harry Potter films, but it is still simple and entertaining enough to give the little ones something fun to watch, without the nightmares.

Directed by: Robert Young
Starring: Diana Rigg, Tim Curry, Charlotte Rae, Fairuza Balk
Extras: Elements of Witch Potions and Spells, Cast Trivia, Cast Profiles
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: BFS
Release Date: 8/24/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The Worst Witch: The Movie a C+.