There is no movie quite like Teen Witch (1989). The teen fantasy movie was supposed to be the girl version of the mega successful Teen Wolf (1985) but was a colossal box office failure. However, as the film began being shown on cable, it developed a cult following among teens and is now a well-regarded part of 80s and 90s nostalgia, especially scary movie fans who used the witch film as a bridge between kid-friendly content and horror.
Growing up, most of us could relate to the sweet main character, 15-year-old Louise Miller, as she dreams of simply fitting in at school. By chance, Louise meets a clairvoyant, Madame Serena, who tells her that she is actually a witch and she will receive her powers on her upcoming 16th birthday. Madame Serena helps Louise become popular and cast a love spell on her crush. However, Louise discovers that the popularity goes to her head and she eventually decides that she doesn’t need magic to live a life that makes her happy.
This trailer is about to bring back all the memories:
And, we couldn’t talk about Teen Witch without talking about that rap battle. Almost as famous as the movie itself is the beloved “top that” rap battle scene that perfectly encompasses late 80s/early 90s culture, both in fashion, music, and the hilariously unrealistic writing of this movie.
A fun detail is that Teen Witch had been wrapped for months when they decided to bring some cast members back for a rap scene! The cast involved this scene tells some pretty cool stories about its history here. The actor who pays the main guy in the scene, clarifies “There was not any moment in time that I ever thought what I was doing was cool. There was no moment I was ever not in peril that this would be just totally humiliating. Little did I know that it was going to be this strange, sort of sub-pop-culture iconic thing.”
In life before the internet, the actors involved all thought that if the scene ended up being embarrassing (as it did), the movie would go straight to video and essentially disappear forever.
Another fun fact is that Louise Miller was played by Robyn Lively, who is Blake Lively’s sister! They both got to play “it girls” of different generations.
Teen Witch is now streaming free on Prime to anyone who has a membership. It’s time to get reacquainted with the movie that introduced most of us to our love of all things paranormal.
