THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It can be fun to celebrate Halloween, until terror comes your way.
PLOT
1993’s Hocus Pocus takes place in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. The story follows teenager Max Dennison who recently moved with his sister Dani and their parents. Although homesick for moving away from Los Angeles, he takes his sister trick or treating on Halloween. Along the way, they encounter his school crush Allison. Both girls hit it off after sharing interest in the folk legend of the witch trio known as the Sanderson Sisters (Winifred, Sarah and Mary). In their lifetime that was the 1600s, they used magic to kill children, to regain youth. In 1693, their last victim was a little girl named Emily Binx. Her older brother Thackery intervened and failed, resulting in the witches to curse him, transforming him into an immortal black cat. When they are discovered by townsfolk of their actions, Winifred casts a curse before she and her sisters hanged to their deaths: if a virgin lights her Black Flame Candle, they get to be resurrected. Wanting to impress Allison, Max takes her and his sister to their now abandoned cottage. They look around the place and eventually, he lights the exact candle. And because he is a virgin, the curse works and the Sanderson Sisters return. They try to kill Dani, but Max saves her and the kids leave with the witches’ spell book, thanks to the advice of Thackery. They briefly catch their breath at a cemetery, giving the cat a chance to explain his backstory, including how Winifred jealously killed her boyfriend William Butcherson (Doug Jones) for having an affair with Sarah. The Sanderson Sisters eventually catch up and due to being unable to harm them on what is hallowed ground, Winifred resurrects a now zombified Billy to pursue them. When he loses track of the children, the sisters attempt to pursue on foot. During their search, they lose their brooms and use modern technology, mops and a vacuum to fly instead. They intend to suck the life source of at least one child to extend their lives, but they have until sunrise before they turn to dust. Max tries to warn his parents and the rest of the adults in town that they’re in danger, during a public party, but they don’t believe him by the time Winifred casts a spell for them all to dance forever. Out of allies, the kids lure the Sanderson Sisters to a pottery kiln in the closest school, which burns them alive. Little did they know that their immortality keeps them alive. Thinking that the terror is over, Max and Allison attempt to undo Thackery’s curse with the spell book, but the cat stops them from trying as he is sure it wouldn’t work as they think it would. When the witches break out of the kiln, they see the signal emitted by the book itself. They quickly invade the home of the Dennisons to kidnap Dani and Thackery. They even capture two teenage boys that disrespect them, Jay (Tobias Jelinek) and Ice (Larry Bagby). Max saves Dani and Thackery by making the sisters mistake car lights as sunlight. He refuses to save Jay and Ice for bullying him earlier. Billy re-emerges only to defy Winnifred and offer allegiance to the kids. Although Dani surrounds herself in a circle of salt, she accidentally steps out which causes Winifred. But Max drinks the potion, giving the witch no choice but to consume his soul. Sarah and Mary try to intervene, but Billy and the girls cause them to fly into the sky after a tug of war with Mary's vacuum cord. Just when Winifred attempts to consume Max's soul, she turns to stone as the sun rises and her sisters turn to dust. With the curse being broken, Thackery gets to enter the afterlife and reunite with her sister and Billy resumes to rest in peace. While the children are relieved of the terror to conclude for them, the adults go home exhausted after their dance spell is undone and the film ends, showing Jay & Ice still stuck in the cottage in cages.
THOUGHTS
I find myself pretty lucky with the array of films I get to watch during October because I can either scream in terror or laugh my ass off. When it comes to watching this film in particular, you bet I'm doing the latter. I always find myself satisfied from each viewing because Director Kenny Ortega was able to make a bizarre scenario so exciting that gets you hooked pretty fast. In one look, it can be pretty scary, but it's too funny to be so. The reason this movie has been approached as timeless one is because it gives a creative spin on how we have to embrace change or we'll never get comfortable about it. When we first see Max, Omri Katz portrays him to be very stubborn because moving away was not easy fro him. Then he slowly puts an effort for the sake of his family. But once things got out control, he was in the position where he understood that he ain't living until he accepts where the starting point will be. And if it happens to be Salem, he's gonna fight for it and he did so to protect his sister. It's easy to compare him to Thackery as Sean Murray also portrays as a brave and loving brother. And I don't blame people for thinking that because the guy is at his most determined to protect the innocent. After failing to protect his sister, he couldn't bare to see others suffer the same fate, hence guarding the cottage for so long. With the curse being broken, it ain't that hard to be happy for his personal suffering to conclude. Dani was a favorite because Thora Birch made her the most confident in comparison to her brother. Due to her youth, she was very open minded that came her way and is the first to tell Max to accept change. She even has her own set of bravery for standing up to people older than her, whether an average teen bully or an ancient witch. Allison was another fine addition to the group of protagonists as Vinessa Shaw portrays her to be highly passionate with her interests, which was a benefit throughout the story. And to me, I think that is what made Max become starstruck. She clearly gives him a chance as the story progressed because she respected the love he shared when it came to protecting his sister, proving that he ain't a selfish guy. With the nightmare at an end, I think everyone who survived will definitely have a brighter future together and move forward once they see the starting point as well. Last but not least, any form of horror is at its strongest when you have a memorable antagonist to stir up the cauldron. In this movie's case, we get a holy trinity of such. The Sanderson Sisters are without a doubt the best thing about this movie as each witch stands out from each other. Bette Midler's Winifred is the smartest and acts logically in her perspective, which can make her the most evil. Kathy Najimy's Mary can be competent, but her powers make her the most observant. I'm still cackling over her flying with a vacuum. Sarah Jessica Parker's Sarah was honestly the hilarious one of the bunch for being the most air-headed when not flirting. Whether she's ignoring her sister while eating a spider or freaking out over a kid dressed as an angel, I am so laughing so hard I gotta catch my breath. Without such outstanding chemistry from all three actresses that make these characters the most colorful of villains, there is no way the movie would work, nor would its Disney+ sequel. This movie is always fun to watch, but after years of re watching, even I can admit this movie has its fair share of issues. For instance, the townsfolk are smart to kill the witches for their crimes, but they should’ve killed them from the moment they started singing because that straight up confirmed they wouldn’t be clear on Thackery’s whereabouts. It even gets annoying when his father doesn’t even acknowledge Emily for crying out loud. And if the townsfolk knew they couldn’t destroy the spell book due to its magic, why didn’t they bury it? It would’ve been much of a challenge for the sisters to do their dirty deeds once they came back. I know for sure I’ve mentioned before that I dislike continuity errors, so you can consider me confused when two pieces of paper for Max’s phone number was used between takes. Was it that hard to save one piece of paper? If that is the case, that’s hilariously embarrassing. I know there has to be a lighter in the cottage for the Sanderson Sisters to come back, but why wasn’t the merchandise cleared out when the cottage museum closed? It would’ve been believable if Max already had one of his own whether or not he was an actual smoker. Because the final decision is more unbelievable than the lighter actually working on the first try, the fire sprinkles still working and the fact of their story being so popular yet lost its mojo as an attraction. If I’m gonna pick on Thackery for anything, I would have to say it wasn’t smart for him to not immediately tell the kids that the witches can resurrect the dead. If you’re going out of your way to share who Billy was, it wouldn’t hurt going an extra mile saying what the sisters are capable of. It even gets disturbing when he chose not to explain the factors of his immortality before getting hit by a bus. If I’m gonna keep complaining about consistency, I find it odd how the sisters figure out what a microphone was and Winifred knew what a drivers permit was. I don’t want to call them idiots because they are generally smart for pulling off such heinous acts, but since it took a while for them to know what a road is, I know they’re not the brightest. Also, why does it take a couple of hours for the witches to be free of the kiln? Considering they’re immortal until sunrise, it’s crazy they couldn’t get out before an hour. And how come no one else reacts with the signal the book emitted? Considering how the town loves Halloween, it’s crazy not at least one group of kids came by before Sarah trances them all. Other than that, this movie is still fine for what it provides. In short, Hocus Pocus remains an entertaining movie for the season of fall by owning its campiness. You want family friendly horror? This is one of the best choices you can ask for.
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