Main Cast: Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann, Jack Soo
Release Year: 1978
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
The Fury meets The Misadventures of Merlin Jones in this comic-book sequel to Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain. Reprising their roles as the psychic siblings from another world are Kim Richards as Tia and Ike Eisenmann as Tony. Their Uncle Bene (Denver Pyle) gives the kids a treat by letting them vacation on planet Earth, and they make the most of it by immediately getting into hot water. It seems that arch-fiend Dr. Victor Gannon (Christopher Lee) and his Bette Davis-like accomplice, Letha (Bette Davis), are in the process of testing a mind-control device. They want to see if they can mentally save their cohort Sickle (Anthony James) from plunging to his death from atop a building. Tony spots Sickle's plunge and telekinetically saves him. When Dr. Gannon sees Tony's powers, he kidnaps him, hoping to utilize his otherworldly powers for his own nefarious purposes. Enlisting the aid of a collection of low-life youngsters (Christian Juttner, Brad Savage, Poindexter, and Jeffrey Jacquet), Tia uses her powers of telepathy to contact her brother and tries to rescue him from Gannon's clutches. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Return From Witch Mountain reunites much of the creative team from Escape To Witch Mountain and, while the results are watchable, they never hit the heights of the previous film. The root problem is Malcolm Marmorstein's script, which has a rather weak plot (the villains seem to change their plans every reel) and cheapens its thriller plot with self-conscious cutesiness and goofy humor that panders to the kiddie audience in a way its predecessor never did. As a result, Return From Witch Mountain never rises above the level of an amiable programmer but the end result is too professional to be dismissed entirely. John Hough's direction remains as taut as ever and is aided nicely by crisp, colorful lensing from cinematographer Frank Stanley and solid visual effects from Disney's technical wizards. In terms of acting, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann are given less to do than in the previous film (another notable flaw of the script) but Christopher Lee and Bette Davis have a grand time hamming up as the film's over the top villains, adding an extra shot of life to the often formulaic proceedings. In short, Return From Witch Mountain is a lesser but fairly entertaining effort that has just enough going on to keep fans of the first film entertained. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Anthony James - Sickle; Dick Bakalyan - Eddie; Ward Costello - Mr. Clearcole; Christian Juttner - Dazzler; Poindexter - Crusher; Brad Savage - Muscles; Jeffrey Jacquet - Rocky; William H. Bassett - Operations Officer; Wally K. Berns - Man in Car; Stu Gilliam - Dolan; Lloyd Nelson - Museum Guard; Ted Noose - Policeman; Brian Part - Goon #1; Denver Pyle - Uncle Bene; Helene Winston - Dowager; Ruth Warshawsky - Lady in Car; Bob Yothers - Cop; Tom Scott - Monitor; Bob James - Gate Guard
Credit
John Mansbridge - Art Director, Jack Senter - Art Director, Chuck Keehne - Costume Designer, Emily Sundby - Costume Designer, Michael Dmytryk - First Assistant Director, John Hough - Director, Bob Bring - Editor, Lalo Schifrin - Composer (Music Score), Louis Mann - Production Designer, Ron Miller - Cinematographer, Frank Phillips - Cinematographer, Jerome Courtland - Producer, Ron Miller - Producer, Frank R. McKelvey - Set Designer, Art Cruickshank - Special Effects, Eustace Lycett - Special Effects, Danny Lee - Special Effects, Herb Taylor - Sound/Sound Designer, Malcolm Marmorstein - Screenwriter
Having spent a good deal of time enjoying the company of their newfound family and friends at Witch Mountain and intensively studying and practicing their supernatural powers, it is decided that Tony and Tia deserve a vacation in Los Angeles, California. Uncle Bené drops them off in their flying saucer in the Rose Bowl Stadium, after which they quickly become separated from each other. Dr. Gannon and Letha happen to see Tony using his powers, kidnap him, and successfully test the doctor's new mind-control technology on him. With Tony at his robotic bidding, Dr. Gannon hopes to achieve recognition within the scientific community and worldwide power, while Letha merely wants a return on her investment.
Tia must find Tony and foil the villains' nefarious plans. Fortunately, a group of would-be toughs, called the Earthquake Gang, and hapless truant officer Mr. Yokomoto — whom the toughs call "Yo-Yo" — come to her aid.
Filming locations
The otherwise vacant lot, upon which the children's dilapidated hideout mansion stands, is today the location for One California Plaza, a commercial and (MOCA) museum center in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as the restored Angels Flight funicular. The gold-bar robbery sequence was filmed at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, Los Angeles. The building facing the Park's Rose Garden was used for exterior shots of the museum. The scene in which Yokomoto's van is overturned, and breaks a fire-hydrant, was filmed near the Sunset Blvd. bridge and Glendale Blvd. underpass intersection, in the Echo Park district.
Actors Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann appear in at least four films together — this one, the original 1975 Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain, and the television film Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell. Richards portrays the roadside waitress and Eisenmann portrays the Sheriff in a re-imagined remake of the original film, Race to Witch Mountain, released in March 2009.
Jack Soo (Mr. "Yoyo" Yokomoto) was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the Autumn of 1978, several months after the film's release. Return from Witch Mountain would be his final movie appearance, as he died the following January.
The emergency voice heard over Yokomoto's van radio — announcing the problem at the plutonium plant — is that of Gary Owens.
