Do you believe in magic or is it all HOCUS POCUS?

I'm surprised that I had never watched this movie before a couple of weeks ago. It was released in 1993 and stars Bette Midler (as Winifred Sanderson), Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson and Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson as. The three are supposed to be sisters. Bette Midler's character is larger than life over the top and a lot of fun. Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker's characters are also lively and entertaining. Their costumes are what you might expect of witches too -- long, flowing layers of vivid colors. Bette Midler's character has buck teeth, which really give her a homely appearance.

The story opens and it is 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts.

The witches lure a little girl, Emily Binx, to their old mill cabin where there is a large caldron brewing. The little girl's brother, Thackery Binx (Sean Murray) notices her missing and runs through the woods to try to find and rescue her. He comes upon the witches cabin, an old mill house, and sees the three ugly, old witches making a magical witches potion. Mary Sanderson says she 'smells a child' and before long, the three witches find and catch poor Thackery and turn him into a cat. They then finish their magical potion and become young and beautiful witches again. But, their happiness is short-lived as they are soon captured and hung by the local townspeople, with poor Thackery, still stuck as a black cat for eternity.

This all sounds like it could be rather scary, but I don't think even young children will be afraid. The magic and potions are all done with lots of laughter and lightheartedness that the Sanderson sisters are known for.

Fast forward to 1993: A young family, the Dennisons, have just moved to Salem from Los Angeles. Young Max Dennison doesn't believe in the rumors surrounding the local legends associated with witches and Halloween, especially the infamous Sanderson sisters. Max, his little sister, Dani and his new friend Alison decide to check out the Sanderson sister's old mill cabin, which is now a museum in Salem. One thing leads to another and Max lights a black candle, which when done so, brings the Sanderson witch sisters back to life for one night, Halloween night to again try to reclaim their youth. Max and his friends are frightened and don't know what to do to escape the witches. It is also at this point that they meet Thackery, the boy who was changed into a black cat, and who now can talk.

Through more chaotic fun, Max is able to steal the witches big magic spell book. Needless to say, the witches are eager to get it back and are fooled by lots of modern conveniences, including a bus ride, and seeing children dressed up on Halloween night trick or treating. The Sanderson sisters also make an appearance at a Halloween dance party attended by the Dennison parents. By singing a magical song, they cast a spell on the party goers keeping them at the party the entire night. Max's mom (Stephanie Faracy) is dressed as Madonna from her Vogue days, but this was about the most outdated moment I noticed. Max's dad (Dave Dennison) is played by the late Charles Rocket.

There is lots of comedy and error as good fights evil in this movie. As I said earlier, it is not scary, but more magical fun and lots of action. We get to meet a zombie named Billy Butcherson who is raised from the dead and even he turns out to be funny. The witches try their best to recapture their youth during this one night chance that they have. We're also treated to seeing them fly around the night sky on their broomsticks.

When all is resolved, we see Max's parents finally leaving the party, exhausted from dancing all night. They mention something about having thought Los Angeles was a party town, which was humorous too.

Hocus Pocus is a perfect movie for the entire family to watch this time of year. It's a terrific Halloween movie.

Directed by Kenny Ortega

Length: 96 minutes

Rated PG for some scary scenes.

This is an entry into captaind's Good Movies 2 write off.



~Thanks for reading~


gkm.


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