Twin… witches! When the first Twitches came out in 2005, I was a sixth grader who was well aware of the Disney Channel Halloween magic. I loved getting scared — but just a little bit, just in the Disney Channel kind of way. Twitches introduced a kind of villain my 11-year-old mind hadn’t seen before: The Darkness. It’s not Kalabar, it’s not a ghost, it’s not a monster or a Boogeyman. The Darkness is a black cloud that follows its targets relentlessly and destroys whatever it can. In these movies, it wants to kill Tia and Tamera Mowry’s characters: Alex/Artemis and Camryn/Apolla, respectively. Both DCOMs were based on the book series by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld.

Coincidentally mimicking Sister, Sister, the first film presents Alex and Camryn as twins who were separated shortly after birth. They’re actually royalty and belong to the magical land of Coventry; their uncle (The Darkness) tried to kill them but killed their father instead. On the day they turn 21, Alex and Camryn meet for the first time and learn that they are twin witches who have protectors named Ileana and Karsh. Alex grew up poor with a single mom, and Camryn lives a wealthy lifestyle at home with her parents. They must return to the land of Coventry and help their mother defend it against The Darkness, aka Thantos, the uncle who got with their mom after their dad died. In the second movie, it is revealed that the dad is still alive. Alex accidentally revives The Darkness they defeated when she tries to bring her father back. But they defeat The Darkness again and finally get to meet their dad, Aron.

I really enjoyed watching both of these movies, but I always love a good Mowry project. The CGI of the Coventry castle is really bad. I could get past that to appreciate the story that so deeply captured the attention of middle school me. The first film features the Aly & AJ song “Rush,” and I still think about Twitches when I hear it. The song hits the perfect minor key for me to be emotionally invested in the journey to fight The Darkness. It’s nice to see Alex and Camryn improve their relationship as sisters while they get to know their mother better in the second film. Camryn often seems younger than the 20something that she is, but I think that’s part of her character. Both movies were directed by Stuart Gillard and included In a Heartbeat actor Jackie Rosenbaum as Camryn’s friend Beth. I’m pretty sure I’ll watch these DCOMs again next year around Halloween.