Return from Witch Mountain (film) Sequel to Escape to Witch Mountain in which the two extraterrestrial youngsters, Tony and Tia, return to Earth for a vacation in Los Angeles. Tony is kidnapped by an evil scientist, Dr. Victor Gannon, who discovers Tony’s amazing psychic powers and wishes to control him with his mind-control device. As Tia searches for her brother, with the aid of a group of kids named the Earthquake Gang, Dr. Gannon’s greedy partner, Letha, uses Tony to steal gold bars from a museum. Using telepathy, Tia finds Gannon’s subterranean lab and is also kidnapped. Gannon’s master plan is, with Tony’s help, to seize a plutonium processing plant, and vow to destroy it unless $5 million is brought to him. Tia manages to thwart the scheme with the help of the Earthquake Gang, but not before a fantastic contest of psychic strength with the brain-controlled Tony. Once Gannon’s mind-control device is destroyed, the villains are vanquished, and Tony and Tia are free to return to Witch Mountain. Released on March 10, 1978. Directed by John Hough. 94 min. Stars Bette Davis (in her Disney film debut and 83rd picture, as Letha), Christopher Lee (Victor), Ike Eisenmann (Tony), Kim Richards (Tia), Jack Soo (Yokomoto), Anthony James (Sickle), Dick Bakalyan (Eddie), Christian Juttner (Dazzler), Brad Savage (Muscles), Poindexter (Crusher), Jeffrey Jacquet (Rocky). The film was based on the characters created by Alexander Key. On-location filming was done in downtown Los Angeles; in the Hollywood Hills, at “Wolf House,” built in the 1920s (used as Dr. Gannon’s mansion); in a dilapidated Victorian mansion near Union Station that was built in 1887 (used as the Earthquake Gang’s hideout); and in the Museum of Natural History in Exposition Park, where the gold heist took place. Finally, a rocket-missile testing facility in the San Fernando Valley and a steam generating plant in Wilmington were combined to create the nuclear processing plant. Released on video in 1986.
