The Witches remake stays true to book's dark ending, dividing fans
Spoiler alert: Roald Dahl's downbeat finale is proving too much for some viewers.
The brand new film adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches features the dark ending to the original children's story, a move that has left fans divided.
Anne Hathaway stars as the Grand High Witch, an evil monster who plans to kill the children in a hotel by turning them into mice and exterminating them.
While usually avid readers will always advocate for an adaptation to make as few changes as possible, The Witches is a more complicated case as many fans still feel an affinity with the 1990 film version starring Anjelica Huston.
Read on for more details, but beware of **spoilers for The Witches book and both films**.
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The first film adaptation of The Witches remains a firm favourite among many movie lovers, despite the fact it likely traumatised them as a child.
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Produced by master puppeteer Jim Henson, the movie alters the dark ending of Roald Dahl's children's book in favour of a happier conclusion, which reportedly angered the prolific author.
Nevertheless, due to the avid cult following the film has garnered, it is the ending that many fans have grown accustomed to, meaning 2020's The Witches is proving divisive despite technically being more faithful.
Numerous viewers have taken to Twitter to voice their shock at how the children in Robert Zemeckis' remake never get turned back into humans, but in fact live out the rest of their days as mice.
However, others have chosen to defend Anne Hathaway's latest blockbuster, pointing out that it's a more accurate translation of Dahl's original vision.
One user wrote: "As someone who read the book as a child, I appreciate the writers for going with the book's ending."
Originally planned for a release in cinemas, The Witches was instead sent to Premium Video On Demand platforms due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In lieu of a theatrical run, the movie is now available to rent for a 48-hour period for £15.99 just in time for this year's Halloween celebrations.
The Witches is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.
