The Final Girls: A Horror Film Podcast

Anna is joined by Tara Judah to discuss the film that traumatised a generation, Nic Roeg's The Witches (1990).

Show Notes

The Witches (1990), Nicholas Roeg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's book, is traumatising af. A young boy and his grandmother as stumble onto a witch's convention. The witches are wicked and sadistic, and beneath their appearance as regular women are hideous, bald, toe-less creatures who hate children more than anything else. Their leader, the Grand High Witch (portrayed with maximum camp by Anjelica Huston) is the worst witch of them all.

I’m joined by the wicked smart Tara Judah, Cinema Producer at the Watershed in Bristol and frequent collaborator of The Final Girls, to dig into some of the reasons why this film, and Angelica Huston’s performance, really gets under your skin. 

We talk about Anjelica Huston's sexy, slinky and campy take on the Grand High Witch, the grotesque physicality of the witches, how this fits into Nicholas Roeg's other work and why it remains terrifying for both children AND adults. 

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

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Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Creators and Guests

Host
Anna Bogutskaya
Writer, Film Critic and Host of The Final Girls
Guest
Tara Judah
Three jobs and the truth - critic, writer, improviser.

What is The Final Girls: A Horror Film Podcast?

A weekly podcast dedicated to exploring horror film and TV history through a female lens. Each series we dissect a trope to death through deep dive conversations hosted by film critic and author Anna Bogutskaya.