TrueJoshNight
Truly Dreadful Film
Nonureva
Really Surprised!
MamaGravity
good back-story, and good acting
Taha Avalos
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
wes-connors
The intergalactic kids who charmed "Escape from Witch Mountain" (1975) - telekinetic Ike Eisenmann (as Tony Malone) and telepathic Kim Richards (as Tia Malone) - return to Earth for a vacation. They land their flying saucer at a deserted Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, mad scientist Christopher Lee (as Victor Gannon) demonstrates his mind-controlling invention for greedy partner Bette Davis (as Letha Wedge) by commanding her vertigo-suffering nephew Anthony James (as Sickle) to scale a skyscraper. An accident causes Mr. James' to fall, but young Eisenmann has sensed trouble, and saves him from certain death.Impressed by the teenager's powers, Ms. Davis and Mr. Lee kidnap Eisenmann, drug him, strap him to a lab table, probe his chest, and take control of his mind with an ear contraption. Among other things, they want Eisenmann to levitate some gold from an exhibition. Left behind, young sister Richards tries to rescue her brother, with help from a truant gang of boys. They are pursued by educator Jack Soo, in his last film role. Mr. Soo wants kids to stay in school.If you haven't figured it out by now, this is an obvious production-line sequel to the unexpectedly imaginative and successful original. Writer Malcolm Marmorstein, who stirred up trouble in "Dark Shadows" and "Peyton Place", didn't get many opportunities to add a goat named "Alfred" his story lines. Everyone here deserved better.**** Return from Witch Mountain (3/10/78) John Hough ~ Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Anthony James, Ike Eisenmann
Poseidon-3
Following the success of "Escape to Witch Mountain," Disney went to the well once again with this follow-up, three years later. Telekinetic, alien preteens Eisenmann and Richards return to Earth for a "vacation" following the presumably tough job of gathering together all the wayward people from their displaced planet. They haven't even gotten to their hotel yet when Eisenmann foresees an accident involving a man falling from the top of a building. The man (James) is part of a test that scientist Lee is conducting with his sidekick Davis in which people do as they are commanded to do following the implantation of a device behind their ear. Once Lee and Davis see Eisenmann save James through his powers, they decide to kidnap Eisenmann and make him their pawn, allowing them to steal things and extort money from whomever they choose. Richards, left alone in L.A. following the kidnapping, falls in with a gang of misfit kids who hang out in an abandoned house. They try to help her, but ultimately she must take on Lee, Davis and even her own brother in order to stop the crimes. Eisenmann and Richards are surprisingly more mature in the couple of years that separate the two films. Their performances are more assured and they are appealing, the one quibble being that the script separates them throughout nearly all of the running time, thus their considerable chemistry together is not given a full chance to shine. Lee is suitably suave and dangerous as the villain with Davis cackling her way through with somewhat less success. She gets a decent line or two, but mostly doesn't seem fully comfortable in the film. It has to rank as one of her lesser screen showcases. Soo, in his final film appearance before succumbing to esophageal cancer, appears as a beleaguered truant officer attempting to round up the gang of hooky players. The gaggle of kids is a fairly negligible bunch. One is played by Tina Yothers' brother and should be easy to spot. Juttner, whose voice has a shrill quality to it, later appeared in "The Swarm" before quickly ending up out of the biz. Pyle again appears incongruously as the alien uncle of the siblings. This go-round is far more action and effects-oriented than the first film. Some of the action is amusing (such as the silly goings on in a museum) and some of it is even a bit thrilling (some car chases and the adventures of a goat!) One neat stop-motion effect involves the impromptu repair of a wrecked van. There's a notable lack of heart in the piece, however, especially compared to the first movie. It might have been more entertaining had Davis been allowed to go the usual route of being the one in charge rather than a hapless flunky. While not a "great" movie, it has a certain level of entertainment and might even be more accessible to today's kids than the first one thanks to the emphasis on effects and the urban setting. Interestingly, James, who plays Davis' relative here (and chauffeur) played the very creepy driver who drove her over the edge of insanity in "Burnt Offerings" a couple of years prior. Also, the poster for this film was far scarier looking than anything in it, especially the VERY unflattering rendition of Davis!
moonspinner55
Disney's sequel to their not-bad 1975 hit "Escape To Witch Mountain" brings back Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards as the teen-tykes from outer space, here battling wits and powers with villainous Bette Davis and Christopher Lee (and their chauffeur, Anthony James, who also played a chauffeur alongside Davis in "Burnt Offerings"!). Well-enough made, but the movie loses sight of what was so special about the first film (a kid's flick with the emphasis on character, not overtly outlandish special effects). Davis is alert and anxious, but she's practically smothered under the gaudy make-up and is left to chew the scenery without benefit of a strong script. Poor Christopher Lee has it even worse, blending into the foreground action while the kids steal all his scenes. The plotting gets too heavy in the final third, what with Los Angeles about to be decimated and delinquent children running amok, but the worst decision was to separate siblings Tony and Tia for much of the movie. Some good sequences, Jack Soo does nice work in a warm supporting bit, and a goat nearly saves the day (and gets a big "thank you" to boot!). ** from ****
disdressed12
in this follow up to "Escape to Witch Mountain",Toni and Tia Malone(Ike Eisenmann,Kim Richards),leave the safe confines of their home on Witch Mountain,to visit New York.They are a few years older and their psychic abilities have grown.once again an evil madman finds out about their powers and will stop at nothing to gain control of them.there is bit of a twist in this movie,which i liked.there is more humour in this than the first movie and there is more action.there are also a few scenes of mild peril,compared to the 1st one.the stakes are a lot higher in this one,not just for Toni and Tia,but the world.Toni and Tia are less naive this time around,so they provide better resistance against the bad guy.i really enjoyed this film,a bit more so than the 1st.if you liked "Escape to Witch Mountain"you should not be disappointed with this film.a strong 8/10