Hubble Bubble: Best Witches on Film

Visionary horror director Adam Wingard unleashed one of the cinematic surprises of 2016 when his next opus, The Woods turned out to be an utterly terrifying return to the world of the BLAIR WITCH, which arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on 23rd January. As the story of the mythical and as-yet unseen Blair Witch hits the shelves this January, what better time to look back on some of the most terrifying witches to haunt the silver screen to date…

The Blair Witch – Blair Witch (2017)

The mythology of the Blair Witch continues! Back and as terrifying as ever and following on from the groundbreaking The Blair Witch Project (1999), the latest instalment of the Blair Witch saga presents us with an even closer glimpse of the resident of Black Hills Forest in Maryland. This time, we follow a group of college students who venture into the Black Hills Forest to uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance of James’ sister from the first film, which many people believe is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch. At first the group is hopeful, especially when a young local couple offer to act as guides through the dark and winding woods. However, as the endless night wears on, the group is visited by a menacing presence. Slowly, they begin to realise the legend of the Blair Witch is all too real and more sinister than they could have imagined…

Minerva McGonagall – Harry Potter Franchise (2001-2011)

Although there are hundreds of witches in the Harry Potter series, everyone’s favourite Animagus Professor Minerva McGonagall gets our pick, here. Played quite brilliantly by Dame Maggie Smith in all eight films, McGonagall represents something of a mother figure for Harry in the absence of his late parents. Stern but magnanimous, McGonagall is respect by almost all pupils and staff at Hogwarts, and exhibits a dry sense of humour now and then. The cherry on the cake is that this witch can transform into a Tabby cat at the drop of a (witches) hat…

Winnie – Hocus Pocus (1993)

This Halloween fantasy-comedy film earned cult status in the 90s, with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy at the helm as the three Sanderson sisters. When the three sisters are accused and executed for being practicing witchcraft in the seventeenth century Salem witch hunt, the trio vow to return three hundred years later to wreak havoc on Salem. In the present day a sceptical, newly transplanted Californian, Max (Omri Katz), explores the ruins of the legendary witches’ house and dares the witches to manifest themselves. Disregarding the warnings of his sister and girlfriend, Max lights the Candle of Black Flame. With that, the witches reappear to wreak havoc on the town in comical fashion. In recent years there have been whispers of a sequel starring Tina Fey…

The Three Witches – Macbeth (1971)

Also referred to as the Weird Sisters or the Wayward Sisters, Shakespeare’s three witches have set a creepy precedent for our contemporary perception of witches, and are represented at their most disturbing in Roman Polanski’s 1971 effort at The Scottish Play. Ugly, hunch-backed, crooked-nosed and with nasal voices, Polanski’s witches appear in the first scene of the film hailing General Macbeth and delivering ambiguous and threatening prophecies of his rise to the King’s throne of Scotland. The witches establish the underlying tone of dark, supernatural magic that runs throughout the film, and are force to be reckoned with and feared by throughout as they dictate the fate of Scotland: “Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn and caldron bubble”…

Wicked Witch Of The West – The Wizard of Oz (1939)

When Dorothy’s house is whisked up by the tornado in this timeless musical fantasy The Wizard of Oz, it crashes in Munchkinland in the Land of Oz, and lands on and kills the Wicked Witch of the East, leaving only her stocking feet exposed. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Brainard Hamilton) arrives to claim her sister’s ruby slippers, but Glinda the Good Witch of the North transports them onto Dorothy’s feet first. From this point on, The Wicked Witch of the West swears revenge on Dorothy for her sister’s death and does everything in her power to thwart Dorothy’s way home, stealing Toto and trapping Dorothy in her castle. A real witch!
BLAIR WITCH IS OUT NOW DIGITALLY AND ON BLU-RAY AND DVD NOW, COURTESY OF LIONSGATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT