Format: Streaming video from Disney Plus on Fire!
Some movies need to be seen not in the context of when they were made, but at the right moment in life. See The Breakfast Club as a senior in high school, and you’ll likely love it. See it when you’re 40, and you wonder why those kids are so whiny. That’s definitely the case with Hocus Pocus. If this had existed when I was a kid, I would have probably loved it. Had I seen it in 1993 when it came out (unlikely), my opinion would have been different. Seeing it now? I get the appeal, but the appeal is not for me.
This is a Disney movie, of course, so it’s not going to be terribly threatening for the audience, although it goes darker in places than I would have guessed going in. It’s also clearly played for a great deal of comedy, which I did expect. My issues with it are neither of those aspects of it, but because it very much feels dated in its characters. There is a particular type if Disney movie kid that existed in this era, and Hocus Pocus might well be the apotheosis of this persona. I promise that we’ll get there.
We start in 1693 on All Hallow’s Eve in Salem, MA. Young Thackery Binx (Sean Murray, and eventually voiced by Jason Marsden) discovers that his sister Emily (Amanda Shepherd) has been kidnapped by the Sanderson sisters, Winifred (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy), and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker). The Sanderson sisters are actual witches and plan to drain the life from Emily to restore their youth. Thackery attempts to stop them, but fail and, much to my shock, actually murder the young girl, then turn Thackery into an immortal black cat, punished to live forever for attempting to interfere with the sisters’ plan. The townsfolk are raised, though, the Sanderson sisters are found guilty of witchcraft, and are immediately hanged. Winifred, though, promises that they shall return.
We jump 300 years into the future and meet the Dennison family, who have just arrived in Salem from Los Angeles. Father Dave (Charles Rocket) and mom Jennifer (Stephanie Faracy) are pretty standard Disney film parents, and not our focus anyway. We’re going to spend time with Max (Omri Katz), who is in high school and his younger sister Dani (Thora Birch), who is probably in second or third grade. Max isn’t happy about being in Salem, not fitting in, being bullied, and having his sister discover his very evident crush on Allison Watts (Vinessa Shaw).
Max is forced to take Dani trick-or-treating, and they wind up at the Watts home. Allison decides to go out with them, and they end up at the Sanderson cabin. You know that the sisters are coming back, so Max is going to be the one who fulfills the prophecy. He (a virgin, as we are told over and over), lights the black flame candle, which restores the sisters for a single night. Now, they have to suck the life out of some kids to restore their youth. If they are unable to do so, the Sandersons will turn to dust. Their problem is that Max and Allison manage to swipe their spellbook as they run away, so it will be the sisters versus the kids, with no one in the town believing what is happening.
There is some definite horror here. After all, the Sanderson sisters, who are ridiculous and goofy and fun, murder a child in the opening scenes of the film. While they aren’t very bright, they are definitely playing for keeps, and when they go after one of the kids, it’s very clear that they’re not playing and are very much intending to kill the children. I like that Hocus Pocus went that far. While a lot of it is clearly silly intentionally, it’s not going to pretend that there aren’t stakes here. And, for what it’s worth, a lot of the humor involving the Sandersons works pretty well.
It works far less for me when it comes to Dani. Dani is that Disney child of the era, and she is the most Disney child there is. To be fair to her, it’s not just that Disney had this kid; every show on every network did. Dani is rude to her brother especially, and goes out of her way to embarrass him at all times—and does so specifically because she knows there will be no retaliation against her. She is happy to announce loudly that Max is the virgin who relit the candle, tells Allison that Max likes looking at her tits (she doesn’t use that word, but still), and more. She’s that precocious kid from every ‘90s sitcom who was popular with audiences for being a little shit.
I get why Hocus Pocus is remembered fondly, but it’s not really made for me. I probably would have enjoyed it well enough if I had had access to it when my girls were 11 and 7 or so, but I didn’t. And so, I’ve simply watched it at the wrong time.
Why to watch Hocus Pocus: It’s harmless, but it has some teeth.
Why not to watch: Dani is honestly terrible.
No comments:
Post a Comment