The ten best movie witches
Hollywood's most notable hocus pocus hags
Tue Feb 12 2013
Vampires are dead: 2013 is officially the season of the witch. As ‘Beautiful Creatures’ (aka ‘the new “Twilight”’) opens, Cath Clarke and Tom Huddleston pick the best screen sorceresses.
Mombi (Jean Marsh)
Film
‘Return to Oz’ (1985)
Appearance
Changeable. Mombi’s USP is her vast mirrored storeroom lined with human heads, which she removes from innocent passers-by and wears on special occasions.
Evil deeds
Well, as if decapitating little girls wasn’t serious enough, she also buddies up with the sadistic Nome King to control the kingdom of Oz.
Scare factor
10/10. Jean Marsh is one of the most professionally unsettling actresses in screen history (she also played Queen Bavmorda in ‘Willow’), and Mombi is her most terrifying creation.
Wyrd words
‘I believe I’ll lock you in the tower for a few years until your head is ready. And then I’ll take it!’
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