Movie Review: Escape to Witch Mountain

Can't Escape the Classics

It’s nice to know that the classics still span the generations. One movie I remember loving as a child was Escape to Witch Mountain. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my wife loved it too. I don’t quite remember why we decided to show it to them, but we rented the DVD for my son and daughter (age 9 and 5 respectively). My kids love to just sit down with a bag of microwave popcorn (or two) and noisily crunch away.

Escape to Witch Mountain was a Disney film made back in 1975. It was about a pair of orphans, Tia (Kim Richards) and Tony (Ike Eisenmann), who have psychic powers, mostly telekinesis and telepathic abilities. An evil millionaire discovers the children’s powers and plots to exploit them for his own nefarious plans (heh, heh, heh. “Mine is an evil laugh.”). Tia and Tony have one chance for freedom, Escape to Witch Mountain.

Ok, I must admit that one of the most endearing qualities of this movie is the chemistry created by the two siblings. Ok, so maybe I had a crush on Tia when I was little. But I have read other reviews by women who were equally as impressed by Tia. Admittedly though, they were both decent kid actors, no Haley Joel Osment by any stretch of the imagination, but not bad.

When the movie was over, my son said, “Thanks for renting that. We love movies where kids have powers.” I think we all at one time or another wished we had powers. Somehow, when so little is under your control, it is just cool to imagine that you have an ability that no one else has.

One cool feature on the DVD is an interview with Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann as Adults. Kim has changed a little bit (although her voice didn’t) but Ike looks just like he did as a kid. Reminiscing with former child actors is always cool, even if you didn’t have a crush on them.
Needless to say, this is a film that both children and adults can watch together and enjoy. The sequel however, “Return to Witch Mountain” left a little to be desired in my mind (but my kids still liked it).