Best Witches Ever?

So, you may be aware, Season of the Witch opens tomorrow. (Yes, I’m going and will post a review…you may have noticed, I’m a trifle obsessed with this film) The website handling much of the film’s hype decided to explore the wide world of witches on television and in film, “inspired by the wonderful Claire Foy who conjures up a terrific performance” by offering their whopping huge list of FIVE “memorable” witches; and naturally, one of them is the witch in…yeah, you got it…Season of the Witch!

The actresses listed are, in reverse order, Kelly Preston from Spellbinder, Joan Bennett from Suspiria (a nice obscure choice), Allyson Hannnigan from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Claire Foy from Season of the Witch (seriously? The film hasn’t even opened yet!), and, at #1, Elizabeth Montgomery from Bewitched.

It’s not a bad list, self-serving elements aside. But…only FIVE?!?

What about Fairuza Balk in The Craft? (Or any of her lovely compatriots?) What about the trio of young ladies in Charmed (the long-running television series loosely based on The Craft)? Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing in Practical Magic? What about Helen Mirren as Morgana in Excalibur? Miranda Richardson in Sleepy Hollow? Or, gee whiz, Margaret Hamilton or Billie Burke, the bad and good witches in The Wizard of Oz?

Some of my favorite witches are witches very few people may have seen…like the witches in an episode of the 1970s TV show Kolchak: The Night Stalker, called “The Trevi Collection.” Or the witch in a made for TV film by Wes Craven called Stranger in Our House, starring Linda Blair (no, she wasn’t the witch!) Or Kay Lenz and Shelley Winters, the witches portrayed in the terrific made for TV movie The Initiation of Sarah.
What about you? Who are your favorite witches on the big and small screens? Post your thoughts here.