Teen Witch

Not to be confused with the 1962 comic series Teenage Witch.

Teen Witch
A teenage girl with textbooks, a gypsy-looking witch, and a male wearing black tank top. Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dorian Walker
Produced by	Moshe Diamant Rafael Eisenman Alana H. Lambros Bob Manning Eduard Sarlai
Written by	Robin Menken Vernon Zimmerman
Starring	Robyn Lively Zelda Rubinstein
Music by	Richard Elliot Larry Weir
Cinematography	Marc Reshvosky
Edited by	Natan Zahavi
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Trans World Entertainment
Release dates	April 23, 1989 (1989-04-23)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.5 million
Box office	$27,843

Teen Witch is a 1989 American teen fantasy comedy film directed by Dorian Walker, written by Robert Menken and Vernon Zimmerman, and starring Robyn Lively and Zelda Rubinstein.

Originally pitched as a female version of Teen Wolf (1985), and later reworked into a film of its own, the film features numerous impromptu rap musical numbers and has since become a cult classic, aided by midnight theater showings, regular airings on cable network channels, and on ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween. The film is also popular for its music and 1980s fashion nostalgia.

Plot

After a bike accident, the sweet-yet-nerdy 15-year-old Louise Miller (Lively) knocks on the door of a strange-looking house, hoping to use the phone. Instead, she meets a strange but welcoming woman, the seer Madame Serena (Rubinstein). Reading Louise's palm, Serena is stunned when she learns that Louise is a reincarnated witch and an old friend from one of her previous lives. A week later, on Louise's 16th birthday, her magical powers return through a powerful amulet that was lost in a former life, an item that Madame Serena says searches for its owner.

Now that Louise has the power to alter the world around her, she intends to make her dreams come true by casting a spell to win over Brad (Gauthier), the hottest guy in school, without earning his love. With Madame Serena's help, Louise uses her newfound powers to become the most popular girl in school while also getting back at her harassing English teacher, Mr. Weaver (Berman), and the cheerleaders who never respected her. It is only after her popularity spell gets out of hand (Which in turn caused her to abandon her equally unpopular but loyal best friend Polly (Ingber).) that Louise realizes that believing in yourself is the true magic in life; in the end, she decides to give up her powers by giving her amulet to Madame Serena, creating her own happy ending in the process.

Cast

• Robyn Lively as Louise Miller
• Zelda Rubinstein as Madame Serena Alcott
• Dan Gauthier as Bradley "Brad" Powell
• Joshua Miller as Richie Miller
• Caren Kaye as Margaret Miller
• Dick Sargent as Frank Miller
• Lisa Fuller as Randa
• Amanda Ingber as Polly Goldenberg-Cohen
• Noah Blake as Rhet Capiletti
• Tina Caspary as Shawn
• Shelley Berman as Mr. Weaver
• Marcia Wallace as Ms. Edith Malloy
• Cindy Valentine as Shana the Rock Star

Box office and reception

The production budget for Teen Witch was $2,500,000. The film was released in the US on April 23, 1989 and grossed $3,875 in its opening weekend at the box office, and only $27,843 in its entire run. April 1989 box office competition included Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner and Pet Sematary, written by Stephen King. Both films were released on April 21, 1989, two days before the Teen Witch release.

Teen Witch is a cult classic, having gained newer, younger audiences after regular re-airings on cable network channels such as HBO and Cinemax in the 1990s. Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post stated, "There are good movies, there are bad movies, there are movies that are so bad they're good and then there is Teen Witch -- a cult classic that defies classification thanks to a curious combination of songs, spells and skin." Joshua John Miller stated of his involvement with the film as character Richie, "If you look at Teen Witch, it was a very campy performance. But it's a really fun film and something I have grown to honor."

There are parodies or homages of the film, especially of its rap song "Top That" (including a homage starring Alia Shawkat). Drew Grant of Nerve.com stated, "If you've never seen the original rap scene from the 80s classic Teen Witch, you must immediately stop what you're doing and watch it right now. It's everything wonderful and terrible about that decade rolled into one misguided appropriation of... hip-hop." Stephanie Marcus of The Huffington Post called "Top That" "the worst song of all time."

On July 12, 2005, MGM released the film to DVD in its original widescreen theatrical version. In 2007, ABC Family acquired the television rights and has since re-aired it regularly as part of their yearly 13 Nights of Halloween movie specials.

Soundtrack

1. "All Washed Up" - Larry Weir
2. "Dream Lover" - Cathy Car
3. "Finest Hour" - Cindy Valentine featuring Larry Weir
4. "High School Blues" - The Puppy Boys
5. "I Keep on Falling" - Blue Future
6. "I Like Boys" - Elizabeth & The Weirz
7. "Get Up and Move" - Cathy Car
8. "Much too Much" - Cathy Car
9. "Never Gonna Be" (opening sequence) - Lori Ruso
10. "Never Gonna Be" (concert version) - Cindy Valentine
11. "Popular Girl" - Theresa & The Weirz
12. "Rap" - Philip McKean & Larry Weir
13. "Shame" - The Weirz
14. "Top That" - The Michael Terry Rappers
15. "In Your Arms" - Richard Elliot

Music was recorded at Weir Brothers Studio.

Accolades

Eleventh Annual Youth in Film Awards 1988-1989

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1989	Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture	Young Artist Awards: Joshua John Miller	Nominated
1989	Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture	Young Artist Awards: Robyn Lively	Nominated

Adaptations

By 2006, the careers of some of the creative staff from Teen Witch had blossomed. Songwriter Larry Weir established New Music Weekly Magazine; Tom Weir earned a Grammy Award for True Love in 2004. The Weir brothers created Caption Records and collaborated with Teen Witch film producer Alana Lambros for the Teen Witch the Musical project.

Financial backers of Teen Witch had neglected to provide funding for the original soundtrack release: After a decade and a half, the master audio tapes had become unavailable. The Weir brothers were interested in recreating the now-popular songs that Larry Weir had written; Alana Lambros brought her long held view that Teen Witch the Musical was viable as a Broadway bound production to the project.

In 2007, the audio CD for Teen Witch the Musical was released, a new generation of musically talented actors were cast for the stage-play, which was presented in workshop. This adaptation never found a larger venue.

The cast of Teen Witch the Musical:

• Alycia Adler as Randa (Cheerleader)
• Bryce Blue as Rhet
• Blake Ewing as Brad Powell
• Ashley Crowe as Madame Serena
• Monet Lerner as Darcy (Cheerleader)
• Tessa Ludwick as Phoebe (Cheerleader)
• Lauren Patten as Polly
• Sara Niemietz as Louise Miller
• Heather Youmans as Shana the Rock Star
• V-Style as rapper

In April 2008, Variety reported that Ashley Tisdale signed with FremantleMedia North America and was in talks with United Artists to star in a remake of Teen Witch.

External links

• Teen Witch at IMDb
• Teen Witch at the TCM Movie Database
• Teen Witch at AllMovie
• Teen Witch at Rotten Tomatoes
• Teen Witch at Box Office Mojo
• Teen Witch at TvGuide.com
• OCLC 60830207