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Hocus Pocus
With Halloween approaching and a sequel hitting the theaters, I thought it was time to check out the original 1993 Hocus Pocus, a big budget Disney Halloween spectacle that failed to engage this reviewer thanks to a paper thin screenplay rampant with predictability and overbaked direction from the man behind the High School Musical franchise.
It's 1993 in Salem Massachusetts where we meet Max, an unhappy teen who has just moved to Salem, who lights a magic candle in an abandoned house and releases the spirits of three witches who were executed some 300 years ago and the only way they can stay alive is by killing all of the children in Salem before the sun comes up.
The screenplay by Neil Cuthbert (Mystery Men) is about as corny and cliched as they come. The opening exposition introducing the viewer to Max will be all too familiar to anyone who has seen The Karate Kid, fortunately, it doesn't go on too long. Sadly, there were other things that this reviewer had a hard time letting slide. OK, we're in Salem, Mass , where the history of witches is legend, but 300 years later, Max, his little sister, and his would be girlfriend are able to walk into a house where three witches lived without a key or a secret combination or something, no lock on the front gate, nothing? Seriously? And once the witches reveal themselves and their mission, what made Max think that stealing their book of magic spells with a creepy eye on the front was a good idea? And when head witch Winifred finally has the attention of most of the population at a Halloween dance, the logical move is a musical number?
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In addition to the story, the characters are weakly developed as well. Winifred is given some substance in the story, but her sisters, Sarah and Mary, are given none and serve as nothing but silly comic relief. Mary can smell children and Sarah just seems to be some witchly version of a pedophile who don't have a brain between them. And the witches' pursuit of these kids something akin to one of those roadrunner cartoons where Wyle E Coyote gets within a hair's breath of capturing the roadrunner before running into a brick wall or going off a cliff. It was hard to accept that three alleged witches had so much trouble dispatching of three children and don't even get me started on the Children of the Corn finale.
Kenny Ortega's direction is manic and undisciplined, requiring a little more attention to production values, especially the often cheesy visual effects, which, with this kind of story, should have been flawless. Bette Midler is quite entertaining as Winifred and Omri Katz, whose biggest credit prior to this film was playing Larry Hagman and Linda Gray's son on Dallas, does bring some charm to Max, but this film is forgettable and what would prompt a sequel 29 years later is beyond comprehension.
With Halloween approaching and a sequel hitting the theaters, I thought it was time to check out the original 1993 Hocus Pocus, a big budget Disney Halloween spectacle that failed to engage this reviewer thanks to a paper thin screenplay rampant with predictability and overbaked direction from the man behind the High School Musical franchise.
It's 1993 in Salem Massachusetts where we meet Max, an unhappy teen who has just moved to Salem, who lights a magic candle in an abandoned house and releases the spirits of three witches who were executed some 300 years ago and the only way they can stay alive is by killing all of the children in Salem before the sun comes up.
The screenplay by Neil Cuthbert (Mystery Men) is about as corny and cliched as they come. The opening exposition introducing the viewer to Max will be all too familiar to anyone who has seen The Karate Kid, fortunately, it doesn't go on too long. Sadly, there were other things that this reviewer had a hard time letting slide. OK, we're in Salem, Mass , where the history of witches is legend, but 300 years later, Max, his little sister, and his would be girlfriend are able to walk into a house where three witches lived without a key or a secret combination or something, no lock on the front gate, nothing? Seriously? And once the witches reveal themselves and their mission, what made Max think that stealing their book of magic spells with a creepy eye on the front was a good idea? And when head witch Winifred finally has the attention of most of the population at a Halloween dance, the logical move is a musical number?
In addition to the story, the characters are weakly developed as well. Winifred is given some substance in the story, but her sisters, Sarah and Mary, are given none and serve as nothing but silly comic relief. Mary can smell children and Sarah just seems to be some witchly version of a pedophile who don't have a brain between them. And the witches' pursuit of these kids something akin to one of those roadrunner cartoons where Wyle E Coyote gets within a hair's breath of capturing the roadrunner before running into a brick wall or going off a cliff. It was hard to accept that three alleged witches had so much trouble dispatching of three children and don't even get me started on the Children of the Corn finale.
Kenny Ortega's direction is manic and undisciplined, requiring a little more attention to production values, especially the often cheesy visual effects, which, with this kind of story, should have been flawless. Bette Midler is quite entertaining as Winifred and Omri Katz, whose biggest credit prior to this film was playing Larry Hagman and Linda Gray's son on Dallas, does bring some charm to Max, but this film is forgettable and what would prompt a sequel 29 years later is beyond comprehension.