Return from Witch Mountain (1978)

44% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
51% of users liked it
(11,036 ratings)

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… More 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, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: John Hough
Genres: Action & Adventure, Kids & Family, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Mar 10, 1978 Wide
On DVD: Mar 10, 2009

Critic Reviews

Joly Herman, Common Sense Media
Creepy classic about mind control still provides thrills.
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
While the first film had an exciting feel to it, Return to Witch Mountain was a bit of a let-down. It had more of a made-for-TV feel to it
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide
Better structured and faster-moving than its predecessor … disappointingly, Tony spends almost the whole film separated from Tia in a trance-like state, so the siblings' relationship is lost.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Probably the closest Disney ever came to making a grindhouse film, starring Christopher Lee and Bette Davis as villains
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
As good as Escape to Witch Mountain is, Return from Witch Mountain is hokey.
Steve Crum, Dispatch-Tribune Newspapers
Top cast in above average sequel to Disney supernatural flick.
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
This disc ought to win an award for having the highest ratio of extra features to film value.
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
This sequel to Disney's inexplicably popular Escape from Witch Mountain is without the shadow of a doubt one of the worst-made films that I've ever seen.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
asinine

Read all 9 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean M

A sequel from Escape to Witch Mountain is an okay family film, but weak Disney. Christopher Lee and Bette Davis' performances were average so are the special effects. I can't wait to see the new reimagining of Witch Mountain starring… More
A sequel from Escape to Witch Mountain is an okay family film, but weak Disney. Christopher Lee and Bette Davis' performances were average so are the special effects. I can't wait to see the new reimagining of Witch Mountain starring Dwayne Johnson this year.
Lafe F

Psychic space kids Tony and Tia are separated in an urban setting. Bette Davis and Christopher Lee are using Tony's powers to steal gold. Tia must enlist the help of a street gang to rescue her brother. It's a lot of ultra-cool Disney fun. The scene where Tony robs the… More
Psychic space kids Tony and Tia are separated in an urban setting. Bette Davis and Christopher Lee are using Tony's powers to steal gold. Tia must enlist the help of a street gang to rescue her brother. It's a lot of ultra-cool Disney fun. The scene where Tony robs the western museum and animates the mannequins was freaky. The scene where Tia enpowers Jack Soo's bus was memorable. Not as fresh as the original movie, but it's rare that we see psychic children using their powers for good.
Byron B

Bette Davis and Christopher Lee are respectable in their performances as the villains, Davis representing the evil of wealth and Lee the evil of science. Classic Disney villains who don't believe in childlike values of magic and innocence and just being plain nice. Disney was… More
Bette Davis and Christopher Lee are respectable in their performances as the villains, Davis representing the evil of wealth and Lee the evil of science. Classic Disney villains who don't believe in childlike values of magic and innocence and just being plain nice. Disney was trying to be more tough and urban in this picture by having youth street gangs battling for their turf. One gang of four younger boys who haven't established themselves as the top dogs in their neighborhood because they're still scared of their mothers yelling at them, they still sometimes go to school, and they're just pretty dorky, befriend the alien girl Tia. All the scenes with the children, which is most of the movie, are full of awful dialog and stiff performances. The plot of the movie involves Tia searching for her brother Tony who has been captured by Davis and Lee and is having his mind controlled for their evil purposes. The only other major adult character besides Davis and Lee's henchman is an Oriental man who the kids derogatorily call Yo-Yo. The character's real name is Mr. Yokomoto, but no, I guess that's too hard to pronounce, or it's another bad example of Disney trying to make the kids sound tough like they're from the street and don't care what adults think. Anyways Mr. Yokomoto drives a van from the Education Department around town looking to pick up delinquent kids and the actor delivers a couple really corny after-school-special kind of monologues about kids staying in school. I'm all for kids staying in school, but this is not the way to deliver the message or fix the problem.
Dannielle A

It wasn't as good as the first one. There were some great special effects for its time but the flying saucer was unforgivable.
Miriam K

As a kid I LOVED these movies! Hope the new one is enjoyable for my kids. . .
Nicky M

Watched this 1 a lot as a kid too. Liked that they were older and that I was about the same age. I wanted psychic powers too!