20 best film witches of all time
Mary Van Tassel (Sleepy Hollow)
Is it strange that we haven’t already discussed a Tim Burton villain on this list? It seems like his movies should be awash in witches, but Burton and his fellow filmmakers tend to be more focused on skeletons and spooky vampires than they are on magic workers.
However, Burton’s 1999 Sleepy Hollow gives us at least one good example of a classically villainous witch character.
Unlike other films, we’re aware of the existence of a witch, but her identity and motives remain concealed until the very last act of the story. At first, people aren’t even sure that a witch is at the center of the goings-on.
Let’s back up a bit. The tale (which is very different from Washington Irving’s short story, by the way) begins with Ichabod Crane. Young Crane is a police constable from New York, sent to Sleepy Hollow to determine who’s been murdering the people of this little hamlet. As Crane investigates, it becomes clear that the killer is a supernatural figure known as the Headless Horseman. Shortly thereafter, Crane comes to believe that someone else must be directing this ghostly, murderous phantom.
Eventually, with the help of a boy named Jonathan Masbath and local girl Katrina Van Tassel, Crane discovers the truth. The witch is actually Katrina’s stepmother, the Lady Mary Van Tassel.
What’s Mary’s deal? You see, she actually grew up poor, thanks in part to the local upper-class families. Her family’s landlord, Peter Van Garrett, evicted them and sold the land to the Van Tassels shortly after Mary’s father died. Her mother is suspected of witchcraft, so none of the other Sleepy Hollow families are willing to help them. Mary’s mother dies, leaving Mary and her sister to fend for themselves.
One day, while gathering firewood, the sisters encounter a famously bloodthirsty Hessian soldier (yes, that is Christopher Walken playing him). Mary snaps a stick, alerting nearby American soldiers to his presence. She watches the Hessian’s bloody demise. While doing so, she makes a pact with the Devil: her soul in exchange for the ability to raise the Hessian and exact her revenge. Seems like the kind of thing that any young girl would want to do.