Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
Director: John Hough
Starring: Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Kim Richards
Synopsis:
While Tony and Tina are on vacation the city, Tony is abducted by a mad scientist looking to use his powers for nefarious ends.
Impressions:
I don't think Escape to Witch Mountain really warranted a sequel, but we got one anyway. Actually, it's not that bad. The story is decent enough and Christopher Lee really brings the goods as the big bad Professor Gannon. Bette Davis, however, gives a much more uneven performance, often delivering her lines in such a stilted manner that I thought she was supposed to be a robot. Maybe she was just off her game or John Hough wasn't up to the task of directing her. She did it for her grandkids, so you can't much complain about that, but if she was playing at her potential alongside Christopher Lee, this movie may well have been legendary. Going back to Lee, he plays the villain role pretty hard, actually pretty surprising for a kiddie film. Seriously, Gannon could easily be a Hammer character. While Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann remain fairly solid as Tia and Tony, the Earthquakes are less impressive, though they are amusing for how ridiculous they are. I mean, one of them goes by Dazzler. A boy, mind you. Like the original movie, it's pretty harmless fluff. If you're Christopher Lee fan, it's worth seeing for him along, but taken as a whole, it's a take it or leave it deal.
50/50