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Guillermo Del Torro : THE WITCHES REMAKE
LydiaRowling
Posts: 338
Forum Member
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Helen McCrory cast as the Grand High Witch in Guillermo Del Torros
'THE WITCHES'
http://i50.tinypic.com/3442qyp.jpg
'THE WITCHES'
http://i50.tinypic.com/3442qyp.jpg
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However, I am far from a fan of McCrory and I'd bet my last penny on her not even coming close to Huston as the Grand High Witch. I can't say I'm excited about the film.
I disagree emphatically.
Anyway, I've been unable to find any other information about McCrory being linked to this film or even to the film being any more advanced in production than it has been for the past couple of years. Did you make the poster/find it on a fan art site?
Go and watch her in the bbc film Messiah 4
her final scene alone wipes the floor with every other actor in the business
I've seen Messiah IV. I've seen a lot of her work. I still disagree.
I don't think she's a particularly bad actress at all, she's perfectly competent; I just find her very unremarkable and ordinary. Which is fine if she's playing a somewhat 'ordinary' role, but a character like the Grand High Witch would require somebody with a lot of character and screen presence, like Huston had - two things I find McCrory distinctly lacking in.
it could benefit from updated effects though?
Not really. I saw a bit of this on sunday, it looks fine. The makeup is excellent too. This new version will possibly be filled with glossy CGI and Torro is hit and miss.
Total Recall didn't!
Totally agreed. I think a lot of the original film's charm lies in the fact that it was made in a simpler time. They didn't have to resort to tacky CGI drowning everything out. They made a big impact with a magnificently cast villain; fantastically camp styling and, as you said, excellent makeup work; as well as the brilliantly kitsch special effects. I don't know a single person born in the 80s or 90s who doesn't remember that scene of the Grand High Witch peeling her face off.
I think another big element in it's enduring cult status is that it's tongue was firmly placed in it's cheek. It blended what was, essentially, a genuinely sinister plot - an organisation of women systematically murdering children - with a sense of total camp madness, which worked perfectly. I don't think you'd get that now. Everything has to pretend to be so serious these days. I'd imagine a big-budget remake turning out to be a combination of Twilight and the Potter films; over-glossy, over-serious, generic and soulless.
Not to mention the original ending.