At an isolated smalltown diner near Witch Mountain, two babies, Anna and Danny, appear out of nowhere bathed in purple light with the only witnesses waitress Zoe Moon (Perrey Reeves) and a mute hermit (Brad Dourif) who separates the two by putting Anna on a nearby delivery truck. Nine years later Danny (Erik von Detten) has bounced from foster home to foster home and ended up at a children's home where he is reunited by chance with his sister Anna (Elisabeth Moss). The two eventually discover they have inexplicable powers that are amplified when they're in proximity to one another. When local magnate, Edward Bolt (Robert Vaughn), makes a publicity visit to the orphanage Anna and Danny save Bolt through their premonitions by helping him avoid a collision with a runaway truck. Bolt sees their powers as an opportunity to attain greater wealth and seeks to gain control of them. Meanwhile, Zoe Moon continues to search for the mysterious twins all these years later, with a mysterious man in purple (Vincent Schiavelli) knowing much more than he lets on.
The third of a wave of four made for TV remakes of Disney films in 1995 (The Shaggy Dog, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, and Freaky Friday being the others). Escape to Witch Mountain is a remake of the 1975 John Hough movie of the same name. Written and directed by Peter Rader whose prior credits include directing B-movie horror and action with Grandmother's House and Hired to Kill as well as a co-writer on the movie Waterworld. Escape to Witch Mountain '95 follows the plot of the original '75 film relatively closely, but does make some adjustments the material to account for audience tastes at the time such as Twin Peaks, Eerie Indiana, Quantum Leap or various other sci-fi/fantasy shows of the 90s. Escape to Witch Mountain probably didn't strictly speaking need to be made, but despite the inherent limitations with TV movies this is actually pretty decent and even improves on issues I'd had with the original.
The casting is really on point as the filmmakers have assembled a really strong team of child and character actors to support the film. Elisabeth Moss and Erik von Detten are really good as Anna and Danny respectively and you do buy their relationship as long lost brother and sister. Robert Vaughn is also quite good as Edward Bolt playing a reimagined version of the character Aristotle Bolt played by Ray Milland in the original and while still adding a bit of camp to his performance (as expected) there are moments where Vaughn does get fairly intimidating. Brad Dourif is also fun playing against type in a dual rule as both a lonely mountain man, Burno and Bolt's put upon reluctant henchman/chauffeur, Luthor. Dourif has always been a strong character but has often found himself playing villain roles (quite well, no question there) so it's nice to see him stretch his legs in something he's not regularly associated with. For the most part Dourif does quite well even if the comedy is very broad and doesn't play to his strengths (particularly in the Luthor role).
Story wise most of the plot is fairly similar to the original with the children being adopted by Bolt and seemingly given everything they desire, only to realize there's something amiss and going on the titular escape. The movie does do some new things such as separating the twins for 9 years which creates a rift in their relationship and the characters have more friction here than they did in the original film making the drama more engaging. The stock bully character from the original film (who was named Truck if memory serves) has also been retooled as Xander played by Sam Horrigan who is more expanded here becoming an ally for the two and now has feelings for Anna. The movie also feels like it's more well-constructed in terms of building its mystery so the conclusion feels more natural than the "flying saucer" even if the ending maybe goes a tad too melodramatic for my tastes.
Despite being a TV movie, the 1995 remake of Escape To Witch Mountain has a good cast and solid writing/direction by Peter Rader keeping the spirit of the original while adding a contemporary spin on the material. While the movie is smaller in scope and scale thanks to its TV budget, it gives more weight to character and drama to make up for its lack of effects work. It's honestly a shame this isn't available on home video alongside other entries in the series.
The third of a wave of four made for TV remakes of Disney films in 1995 (The Shaggy Dog, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, and Freaky Friday being the others). Escape to Witch Mountain is a remake of the 1975 John Hough movie of the same name. Written and directed by Peter Rader whose prior credits include directing B-movie horror and action with Grandmother's House and Hired to Kill as well as a co-writer on the movie Waterworld. Escape to Witch Mountain '95 follows the plot of the original '75 film relatively closely, but does make some adjustments the material to account for audience tastes at the time such as Twin Peaks, Eerie Indiana, Quantum Leap or various other sci-fi/fantasy shows of the 90s. Escape to Witch Mountain probably didn't strictly speaking need to be made, but despite the inherent limitations with TV movies this is actually pretty decent and even improves on issues I'd had with the original.
The casting is really on point as the filmmakers have assembled a really strong team of child and character actors to support the film. Elisabeth Moss and Erik von Detten are really good as Anna and Danny respectively and you do buy their relationship as long lost brother and sister. Robert Vaughn is also quite good as Edward Bolt playing a reimagined version of the character Aristotle Bolt played by Ray Milland in the original and while still adding a bit of camp to his performance (as expected) there are moments where Vaughn does get fairly intimidating. Brad Dourif is also fun playing against type in a dual rule as both a lonely mountain man, Burno and Bolt's put upon reluctant henchman/chauffeur, Luthor. Dourif has always been a strong character but has often found himself playing villain roles (quite well, no question there) so it's nice to see him stretch his legs in something he's not regularly associated with. For the most part Dourif does quite well even if the comedy is very broad and doesn't play to his strengths (particularly in the Luthor role).
Story wise most of the plot is fairly similar to the original with the children being adopted by Bolt and seemingly given everything they desire, only to realize there's something amiss and going on the titular escape. The movie does do some new things such as separating the twins for 9 years which creates a rift in their relationship and the characters have more friction here than they did in the original film making the drama more engaging. The stock bully character from the original film (who was named Truck if memory serves) has also been retooled as Xander played by Sam Horrigan who is more expanded here becoming an ally for the two and now has feelings for Anna. The movie also feels like it's more well-constructed in terms of building its mystery so the conclusion feels more natural than the "flying saucer" even if the ending maybe goes a tad too melodramatic for my tastes.
Despite being a TV movie, the 1995 remake of Escape To Witch Mountain has a good cast and solid writing/direction by Peter Rader keeping the spirit of the original while adding a contemporary spin on the material. While the movie is smaller in scope and scale thanks to its TV budget, it gives more weight to character and drama to make up for its lack of effects work. It's honestly a shame this isn't available on home video alongside other entries in the series.