It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus.
After 300 years of slumber, three sister witches are accidentally resurrected in Salem on Halloween night, and it is up to three kids and their newfound feline friend to put an end to the witches' reign of terror once and for all.
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Character
Resolved, classical in form, unpretentious and effortless.
- resolvedopen-ended
- classical in formformally daring
- unpretentiousprestige
- effortlessdemanding
- character-ledplot-driven
Who loves it, who doesn't
23 profiled raters. Loved most by The Sinceres; disliked most by The Thrill Chasers.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is this Kenny Ortega's best work?”
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“Would Hocus Pocus hit harder if it came out today rather than in 1993?”
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“Is Hocus Pocus overrated?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- GenerationofSwineon TMDB · Jan 202310/10
The colors, right? Was the the draw in for you too, because this movie popped. Outside of Dick Tracy I don't think I've seen color used to well in a film, both for entertainment and for pure wow. It popped... and, yeah, there was a story here too. This was the 90s, it was that time where they could make a children's movie that was still a little dark, a children's movie that was still entertaining for adults to watch. In other words, they made a FAMILY movie, and that hasn't been done lately has it? You can watch it as an adult and love it because it has a real plot, it has jokes that are above the low brow children's fair, and jokes that cater to them as well. It takes an effort to be appealing to ALL age groups. And, as I said, it has a plot that you can follow, which again is new for the modern family film which are more or less a series of scenes loosely linked together. It's entertaining, it was entertaining when I was 13 and my little sister was 7, it was entertaining for my parents that took us, and it's still entertaining. Only now that I'm 40, I'm old enough to look at it and appreciate the color... because man does it pop.
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Nov 20227/10
What ever happened to Omri Katz? Here he is the young "Max" who moves with his sister "Dani" (Thora Birch) to the small, history-laden, town of Salem where he soon gets the hots for "Allison" (Vinessa Shaw). Out on a Halloween trick 'r treat session with his sister, they arrive at the her rather posh home where they discuss the famous "Sanderson" witches who were famously hanged there three hundred years earlier. It seems that their house was converted into a museum, so all three head to this dilapidated home where "Max" does the unthinkable - he light the wrong candle and whoosh - back come these three wicked harridans. Led by "Winifred" (Bette Midler) these women must use a secret potion to rob all the children of their youth so they can use it themselves and attain eternal beauty. Fortunately, our intrepid (and increasingly loved-up) trio have one ally from the days gone by in the form of the cat - formerly "Thackery" who was punished by these self same witches centuries ago. Can their combined efforts thwart the witches' dastardly plan? It's great fun, this - with Ms. Midler on good form supported handsomely by Sarah Jessica Parker and a slightly under-used Kathy Najimy. It's g
Read the whole review on TMDB - Kamuraion TMDB · Oct 20204/10
Bad watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend. Sometimes it is fun to get in the way back machine to visit "classic" movies, but they don't always hold up. And in some cases, like this, it is a wonder they EVER worked at all. Especially that it is a 1993 Disney movie and focuses on sex, plus a lot of witch lore being based on women being sexual in a time where it was so inappropriate they would be burnt at the stake. I digress. While the Sanderson sisters are a compelling premise, if sloppy, and an interesting metaphor for the desires of power, hunger, and sex, it goes to an almost cartoonish levels of ridiculous for next to no reasoning. All the non witch cast do a fine job, and I especially liked Thora Birch's performance, I can see why she took off so well. As for the witch cast, I have no doubt they did was in the script very well, but the script is overly ridiculous, and even just trying to relax there are jokes that make no sense and just aren't all that funny. Ultimately it comes down to being a Halloween themed sub-par Babysitter's Club, or your choice of child adventure groups.
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Cast
- Omri KatzMax Dennison
- Thora BirchDani Dennison
- Vinessa ShawAllison
- Bette MidlerWinifred Sanderson
- Sarah Jessica ParkerSarah Sanderson
- Kathy NajimyMary Sanderson
- Tobias JelinekJay
- Larry BagbyErnie / 'Ice'
- Doug JonesBilly Butcherson
- Amanda ShepherdEmily
Crew
- Kenny OrtegaDirector
- Neil CuthbertScreenplay
- Mick GarrisScreenplay
- Hiro NaritaDirector of Photography
- John DebneyOriginal Music Composer
- Peter E. BergerEditor
- David KirschnerProducer
- Steven HaftProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
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Often watched with
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