The Worst Witch

The 1986 Halloween Special Has More to Offer Than Just A Great Tim Curry Track

This is the latest in my ongoing series of Halloween viewing recommendations. So far we have sought out the shivers with Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre, confronted Bette Davis’ eyes in The Watcher in the Woods, and danced with the Mickey Mouse Club. This time, we are venturing to Miss Cackle’s International Academy for Witches to have some spooky fun with Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch.

Before Harry Potter, there was Mildred Hubble, a young witch who always got it wrong. While everyone else is able to produce a potion that gives the drinker a case of giggles, she accidentally turns herself invisible. When all of her classmates are given black cats to be their familiars, Mildred is left with a white and gray cat that she loves with all her heart. Despite her continuous failings, she is the one who comes through and saves the school from the evil Agatha who was intent on claiming the academy for herself.

It is an adorable hero’s journey about all you can accomplish by staying true to yourself. However, it is mostly known these days for the show-stopping performance of the delightful charisma machine that is the one and only Tim Curry as The Grand Wizard.

The song, Anything Can Happen on Halloween can be enjoyed on a number of levels. For most, I would assume, the pleasure comes from viewing the clip of his performance with a spoonful of irony. The mid-’80s video effects are silly and look like they belong in a trippy 1970s live performance. The lyrics are overly simple and goofy, and Curry is relishing every last syllable. One can’t help but feel that he was 100% aware of how cheesy the material is and he is trolling the audience by committing so hard to it.

You might enjoy it on a nostalgic level, getting goosebumps over the fond memories you have of watching it every October as you eagerly anticipate a night full of scares and candy. Then again, if you’re a true Halloween fan, you can see it for what it is: an anthem for what makes Halloween the best damn holiday of the year!

If the countless covers and parodies of this song have been your only exposure to the film, then you are missing out. Beneath all of the dated visuals and surreal synth soundtrack is a compelling and relatable story about being the outsider. Mildred is the worst witch, yes, but she is also the most interesting and relatable character of the bunch.

Let’s face it, if you love Halloween, you’re already an outsider. Just look at store shelves. Sure, you’ll find candy and masks and a handful of creepy decorations. What will you find right next to it? Christmas crap. In the domain of holidays, Christmas is king, leaving us Halloween fanatics to feel a little outside the societal norms. For us, Mildred should be a paragon of individuality.

If that isn’t enough to convince you that you should seek this out, just consider the astonishing cast. Outsider extraordinaire Fairuza Balk (Return to Oz, The Craft) plays Mildred in such a way that makes a character that could be annoying more sympathetic. Her Mildred is someone we can root for. Also appearing as the overbearing and elitist Miss Hardbroom is the late and consistently great Diana Rigg. The TV legend Charlotte Rae pulls double duty as the gentle Miss Cackle and her demented, punky sister Agatha. The star power here is stronger than it has any right to be.

How hard this one hits you will depend on your history with it. If you weren’t familiar with it as a child, it may not go down quite so easily. However, if you’re open to all the varied pleasures Halloween media has to offer, including corny, low-budget material intended for much younger folks, then you’re sure to have a lot of fun.

For a music recommendation, I’m going with Everyday is Halloween by Ministry. It’s another anthem about being different that I’m sure Mildred Hubble would relate to.

REMINDER: My novel Nostalgiamares: Phantom Delivery is out now as an ebook. If you like nostalgic horror, this one is for you. Please check it out and leave a review on Amazon.