literally orders Tony to “crush” and “kill” his sister. On the other hand, the themes of truancy, disrespect of authority figures and urban mis- chief are counteracted by a typi- cally sober “lesson learning” near the end of the film (though, alas, nobody remembered the cabbie and his perfect safety record). The “passing interest” sequel (written by Malcolm Marmorstein for re- turning director John Hough) failed to duplicate the box-office success of the original, but the WITCH MOUNTAIN concept never left the imaginations of its fans. The two stars and the director return for another feature com- mentary, which is again brought to life by a video supplement (MAKING THE RETURN TRIP). It comes as no surprise that Christopher Lee was brought to the production on the specific recommendation of John Hough (who directed TWINS OF EVIL for Lee’s old stomping grounds at Hammer), but the di- rector was also influential in the casting of Anthony James. As be- fore, an animal story gets the end
title treatment—this time, it’s a funny “goat” tale. The extras con- tinue with the reunion of three “Earthquake” actors (Brad Sav- age, Erik Yothers and Christian Suttner), who share their stories in THE GANG’S BACK IN TOWN. The montages found on this disc in- clude a “1978 Disney Studio Al- bum” and a look at “Disney Kids With Powers.” But the “Lost Trea- sure” is actually something spe- cial this time—it’s a 10m 30s television interview with Christo- pher Lee (hyping RETURN, of course) conducted by Pepe Luci— in Spanish, with English subtitles. Lee is quite comfortable and flu- ent in the language—except when the time comes to translate the title of THE WICKER MAN! The actor also obliges when a brief operatic solo is requested of him. The cartoon offering here is “The Eyes Have It”—a hypnotism lark pitting Donald Duck against Pluto. Trailers for RETURN and other Disney offerings are provided (like it or not). 5.1 Dolby Digital, en- hanced widescreen (1.75:1) and
a twelve-chapter menu are again the order of the day. A pilot for a proposed ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN Disney TV series starred Eddie Albert but failed to get off the ground, while a 1995 Disney TV-remake (one of many such projects around that time) did nothing to displace fond memo- ries of the original, whose fans continue to recognize and ap- proach Eisenmann and Richards to this day. And there was yet an- other offshoot of the phenomenon: Eisenmann (who has changed the spelling of his name to Iake Eisin- mann) is now a maker of short films, and in 2002, he created THE BLAIR WITCH MOUNTAIN PROJECT, a “mockumentary” in which he and Kim Richards are joined by numer- ous WITCH MOUNTAIN cast- mates as an expedition tours the area in search of Tony and Tia! Such a project would scarcely seem worth the effort if there weren’t so many people who still care about these films—and these same fans will certainly want both of these DVD releases.
RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN: Christopher Lee seeks to harness the mind power of Ike Eisenmann as cohorts Bette Davis and Anthony James observe.
51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
