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Hocus Pocus Movie Review

Hocus Pocus is a 1993 fantasy comedy film directed by Kenny Ortega and starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. It is an overly campy movie.

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“Oh, look. Another glorious morning.

Makes me sick!“

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Three witches resurrect after 300 years to exact revenge and begin a reign of terror after Max, a young boy who moves to Salem with his family, lights a cursed Candle of Black Flame. This movie is apparently a big cult classic nowadays, but it was trashed by the critics back when it was released and I personally find the movie mediocre as well. It is way too ridiculous, campy and slight to be taken seriously.

I don’t mind a fun, amusing movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but this one isn’t just too much in its campy excess, but it is also a film that doesn’t really have a proper storyline to speak of. It is one-note, repetitive and consistently thin that I wished for better storytelling and characterization while watching it.

Bette Midler is definitely a lot of fun. She is so theatrical and over-the-top in her line delivery, but it works in the context of this movie and its tone and she is simply the only funny part of the film. Sarah Jessica Parker is less memorable, but she is solid here as well while Kathy Najimy is the most forgettable of the three sisters.

The acting is undoubtedly pretty good, but the characters that these ladies play ended up being very simplistic, thus I could not care more for any one of them. The child characters fare even worse. You have this precious girl that is of course spewing very smart lines of dialogue like crazy. No child would ever speak like this.

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Hocus Pocus does have a solid soundtrack. Not only is I Put a Spell on You such a fun song, but the score itself is very breezy and fun. Other than that, the effects, cinematography and editing are nothing to write home about, making the movie limited in scope and not all that cinematic. The humor is also obvious and the sophistication is nowhere to be found.

I do understand the appeal of Hocus Pocus to some people. It is a cult movie nowadays in particular due to its campiness and a very memorable, over-the-top Bette Midler in the main role. But it was too silly and slight for me personally. The script is mediocre, the humor is obvious and the characterization is very thin. The movie is also not all that cinematic with only the soundtrack being above average.

My Rating – 2.5