User Reviews

So here I am, almost 40 years later in life trying to figure out again if this was a movie that was real or just the imagination of the six year old kid that i was when I hallucinated this film into existence. I was born in 1971 in Durham NC. When I was six I went to after school care here at the YMCA on Trinity Ave. My working parents would pick my older sister and me up from there Monday through Friday. It was there that we would see this movie ( the quality was bad then as well )and also we would occasionally see the original first film adaptation of Dracula called - Nosferatu, filmed in the late 1920s, starring the actor Max Shrek. I can't believe how many people recall this movie and the " happy pancakes witch". People would look at me like I was insane when I would attempt to describe it. Many thanks to the clue givers who led me to here!! I'm officially not as crazy as I thought or led to believe!!

With Halloween 2017 a week away as I write this, I have to tell you about a unique family experience shared last night at the St. James Episcopal Church Community Room in the town of Goshen, New York. The Friends of the Goshen Public Library sponsored a screening of "Winter of the Witch" attended by about forty or so guests. What's memorable about the event was that at the conclusion of the short film, the entire audience ventured outside for a leisurely two block walk to the actual house that was used for making this production in 1969! As a bonus, a woman dressed in a witch's outfit waved to the group from a third story window, the only sign of life in the entire mansion-like setting. It was just a wonderful experience!

Now as for the picture itself, I think a lot of other reviewers go on to relate how the film captured their whimsy when seen so many years ago in the Seventies at church groups and elementary schools. Oddly, since I grew up in another small village only four miles from Goshen, I had never seen or even heard of it until catching a small blurb in a local newspaper about the screening of the film. As most others relate, the picture is not much more than a fluff piece about a witch who creates 'happy pancakes' for a young boy after he and his Mom come into possession of a home in which the witch still resides (which the witch?, sorry it just came out that way).

What caused a lot of merriment for the audience were a handful of scenes in which people who sampled the pancakes were suddenly caught up in a vision of brightly colored balloons signifying their turn into 'happy people'. Being this was 1969, I had to wonder why the film makers didn't take advantage of the era's technology that was used for popular bands of the era like Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly when they appeared on TV programs like "The Smother Brothers Comedy Hour" or even the "Ed Sullivan Show". You know, like those lava lamp effects with their swirling, liquid-like colors with a psychedelic aspect to them. It probably had to do with budgetary restrictions, but that would have been the ticket.

Nevertheless, the live setting surrounding my viewing of the picture with the attendant bonus features made for a worthwhile evening of fun. I have to wonder if the Goshen folks might make this an annual event, I wouldn't mind doing it all over again. Oh yeah, cider, apples, and donuts as another added bonus - who can beat that!

"Winter of the Witch" is a 24-minute live action short film from 1969, so only two more years until this has its 50th anniversary. The director is Gerald Herman and he is also the writer who adapted the original book by the Devlins for the small screen here. The cast includes two big names, namely Oscar-nominee Burgess Meredith who narrates the tale and Golden-Globe winning actress Hermione Gingold who plays the title character and probably also the most significant character of the entire thing. She may be the reason why this felt like a very British movie despite being an American production. Anyway, this is the story of a witch who has apparently enough of her profession and with the help of a boy turns into a likable old lady. Or so it is supposed to be. I personally felt honestly that with all the focus on Gingold, the boy seemed completely insignificant and it never felt realistic that he would cause this change in her, even if times did as well. Kinda fitting that child actor Roger Morgan never appeared in another film and from what I saw here, I am not disappointed about that. There is a decent quote about enough bad people existing nowadays, so witches have nothing to do anymore. But that's pretty much the only good moment. Even with the makers trying to convince us in the very last scene, I never felt as if the witch would have been really evil at some point. Is she just some confused old lady dressed up as a witch? I don't know. IMDb does not list this film as a fantasy movie, so maybe it is actually true. But IMDb also lists this film with a rating at over 8, which is highly inaccurate as this wasn't a good watch at all. i give it a thumbs-down and don't recommend checking it out. The story wasn't good enough simply and I have a feeling that this is more because of the production values here and not because the book is as weak. I have never read it. Final note: This is a color film. Don't be fooled by the b&w shots here on the film's title page.

Over-baked poppycock about a 300-year old witch living in a 1970 New York mansion which gets bought by an unemployed soccer mom and her annoying son for $400 dollars.

After deciding to co-exist with the private witch, the two mortal intruders allow the sorceress to prepare 'magic blueberry pancakes' which apparently "make people happy". Unfortunately for the witch, the loafing duo stands by doing nothing while the witch does all the cooking.

The thing missing from this grade school film is a scene where the witch pushes the lazy mom and her rotten off-spring into the big black pot to be boiled alive. At least the witch admits she wants to go back to scaring people.

Goofy, dated, and ultimately lame attempt at a 'feel-good' horror flick.

WINTER OF THE WITCH is an odd little half-hour short, aimed at kids and shot in New York in 1969. It's about an old-fashioned witch, complete with black outfit, hat, and hooked nose, whose attempts to integrate with modern family life aren't too successful. There's really not much going on here to make this very memorable, but I did like the cheesy, low-fi 'magic' effects which are quite endearingly portrayed on a zero budget. The rest is amateurish, but at least it has character all of its own.