Ritorno dall'ignoto

This is a fine sequel to one of Walt Disney's better family projects Escape from Witch Mountain. The adult stars are Bette Davis and Christopher Lee as an old dowager financing a mad scientist in some nefarious experiments.

These two happen on the alien kids from Witch Mountain, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenman, when the kids are on holiday to Earth once again. They kidnap Ike after seeing an example of his powers of levitation and seek to use him and fit him with a mind control device that Lee's been perfecting.

Lee's dreaming some big dreams and Davis has some more mundane schemes like a trip to some gambling house or racetrack. Both of them looking like they are having one grand old time hamming it up for the cameras.

Of course the film wouldn't work at all if it were not for the winning personalities of Richards and Eisenman. Both come across as real kids, not sure of the extent of their own powers rather than Hollywood juvenile actors.

The whole of the film is Richards pursuing and trying to rescue her brother and in the process she recruits a gang of juveniles escaping from a truant officer played by the ever deadpan funny Jack Soo. Eventually Soo joins forces with the kids and proves of some help.

Both Escape to Witch Mountain and this sequel are fine family entertainment, some of the best that Disney studio produced.

Return from Witch Mountain (1978)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Aliens Tia (Kim Richards) and Tony (Ike Eisenmann) return to Earth for a vacation but soon Tony finds himself kidnapped by an evil scientist (Christopher Lee) and the woman (Bette Davis) who funds his experiments. The evil duo plan on using Tony's powers to take over the world so it's up to Tia to try and stop them. This sequel to Disney's ESCAPE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN isn't nearly as good but fans will at least get some entertainment out of the supporting players. I think, for the most part, this is just a rehash of the original movie and the imagination level isn't nearly as high nor is the adventure as good. What we basically get are a lot of mildly amusing scenes where the kids are forced to use their power against one another and this does lead to a few good scenes. One of the highlights of the film happens when Tony is forced into a museum where Davis tries to get him to steal three-million in gold. This includes bringing the museum to life and this long sequence turns out to be the most memorable. The ending is also quite fun as Lee plans on blowing up the world and Tia must try to fight off Tony's powers. Unlike the first film, this one here actually contains some rather dark moments as the kids are constantly in danger and this gives the film a tone that isn't nearly as enjoyable. The special effects are just as impressive as the first one and they really get to shine during a car chase where certain objects magically move to try and ruin the chase. Both Richards and Eisenmann are very good in their parts and add a lot of charm even though their characters aren't written as well as previously. The main reason to check this out will be for fans of Lee and Davis who appear to be having a great time together. You can tell that both actors are enjoying these lesser roles that certainly didn't require them to do anything other than have fun. I found the two of them worked very well together and made for a great duo. Lee gets to be a good villain while Davis gets to show off some of her comic timing. In the end the film isn't nearly as good as the original but the cast and special effects make it worth while.

Disney's sequel to 1975's "Escape From Witch Mountain" scuttles all interest in its teen characters, Tony and Tia (the returning Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards), for the sake of jazzier special effects. The kids return to Earth from outer space, where Tony is kidnapped by villains Bette Davis and Christopher Lee (and their chauffeur, Anthony James, who earlier played chauffeur in "Burnt Offerings"). Terrific cast, well-enough made, but the movie loses sight of what was so special about the first film: a kids' flick with the emphasis on character, not outlandish effects. Davis is alert and anxious, but she's practically smothered under her gaudy make-up job; Christopher Lee unceremoniously blends into the background without much of a character to play (it's easy to forget he's even in the picture). The plotting gets too heavy, what with Los Angeles about to be decimated and delinquent children running amok, but the worst decision was to separate the siblings for much of the movie. Jack Soo does nice work in a supporting bit, and there's also a goat who nearly saves the day. *1/2 from ****

As a kid I LOVED this movie. Tony v.s. Tia! Watched again as an adult , its still ok, but I noticed the kids acting is pretty bad. As young children in Escape To Witch Mountain they were very convincing, as pree-teens not so much.....alot of the first movies appealfor me was the mystery, where do these kids come from? How did they get these powers? I loved Tias flashbacks and the fact that both kids had similar but different powers (Tia could talk to animals, open locks, move objects without help, Tony could see future places and needed his harmonica to move objects) in this movie they are both basically telepaths and telekeneics, although more powerful. I did like the fact Tia was the hero of the picture and I loved the musuem chase scene............

This is a very well done sequel to "Escape to which mountain" Tony and Tia(Ike Eisenmann & Kim Richards)are back! This time, they come back to LA(they come via space ship and land on the 50 yard line at the rose bowl!)for a vacation.

On their way to the motel, the cab they are riding in runs out of gas. When the cab driver leaves to go get gas, Tony and Tia have visions of a man falling from a tall building. Tony goes to help him. Enter Letha and Victor(Bette Davis & Christopher Lee)who are testing a mind control device that Sickle(Anthony James)is wearing. The test goes wrong when Letha grabs the remote control from victor and drops it on the ground.

When Victor and Letha see Tony's powers, they repay Tony for saving Sickle's life by kidnapping him. Meanwhile, when Tony hasn't returned to the cab-she goes looking for him. He is nowhere to be found. After a short while, a pre-teen group of kids(Whom they call themselves "The earthquake gang)are running away from another gang-Tia helps them escape from this gang. They then help Tia look for Tony.

I like the earthquake gang. These kids, despite how they dress are not really a violent gang-I think they have a tender side of them-they want to help people. Now I realize that this is not based in any real reality, it's only a movie-they are not to be taken seriously. I get a laugh out of them. Although, they try to act tough they don't scare anyone.

Victor and Letha are in their Lab testing this mind control device on Tony. After seeing the success of their tests, they both use Tony for their own evil ends. Letha wants money, she takes Tony to the museum in an attempt to steal 3 million dollars worth of gold which is on display. Things of course go wrong when they underestimate the weight of the gold bars. Victor on the other hand wants to rule the world and he uses Tony to take over a plutonium processing plant.

Tia then shows up-and a show down between Tia and Tony ensues-you will need to watch the film to see how it ends.

Although not the best sequel, it's better than most(Esp. by Disney). I recently got my DVD copies of both films. It's been remastered in THX, Dolby 5.1 surround sound. It sounds better than ever.