Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus
PG | 16 July 1993 (USA)
Hocus Pocus Trailers

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.

Reviews
Wordiezett

So much average

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VividSimon

Simply Perfect

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FeistyUpper

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

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Voxitype

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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Smoreni Zmaj

As expected from Disney. If we put aside tradition of making animated masterpieces and concentrate on feature movies, Disney rarely fails, but there's even fewer great movies. This one is no exception. Quite dark story presented in optimistic and cheerful way typical for this company. It's fun and entertaining and it has no bigger flaws, but there's nothing to praise either. Good choice when you just want to relax your brain, cause it's not needed for watching this flick.6/10

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jimbo-53-186511

Back in 1693, the Sanderson sisters are hung for performing witchcraft. 300 years later they become resurrected after a sceptical teenager lights the infamous black candle as he believes the legend of the Sanderson sisters to be merely 'Hocus Pocus'. Newly resurrected, the mighty Sanderson sisters are set to bring about a new reign of terror on the town of Salem with only 2 teenagers, a young girl and an immortal cat intent on trying to stop them.Strangely, the best way for me to analyse a film like Hocus Pocus is to imagine yourself being sober and being in the company of a bunch of drunk people; they start off amusing and you find yourself being able to have a bit of a laugh with them in the early stages, but then the longer the evening progresses and the more drunk they get you start to notice that they become louder, more annoying and harder to tolerate. Interestingly, this was my perception of this whole film....In the last paragraph I am specifically referring to the 3 witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy). To be fair, their performances are excellent here and they are definitely responsible for the funniest moments in the film, but when watching them it does feel like you're in the company of the 3 of the most irritating people in the world (Najimy as Mary says 'I smell children' quite a lot and this is her only real memorable contribution). Parker puts in a good performance, but it essentially just consists of her either being flirtatious or childish - again a mix that works well at the start, but begins to wear out its welcome in the latter stages). Midler is easily the best of the 3 and is able to carry the film with ease - it probably helps that as the leader of the group that she's given more of a character to work with, but she's the only one who really shows any general menace. All 3 women are guilty of overacting at times and their scenes together also feel quite theatrical a lot of the time. The supporting cast are actually OK, but are not as compelling as the leads with only Thora Birch really being able to display any real talent (Birch is probably better known for her work in American Beauty).Aside from feeling like a wacky, zany and crazy acid trip the film is also rarely funny and seems overly reliant on star power to get by; the story is actually quite weak and isn't particularly involving - this isn't helped by the obligatory trite teenage romance slotted slap bang in the middle of the picture which seems to dominate proceedings.I also felt that the film missed out on opportunities to be smarter or funnier; the witches are resurrected 300 years later, but the only comments they make on their new society relate to firemen being witch-hunters and Bette Midler asking a bus driver what the strange contraption is that he's driving... More tit-bits like this would have given this film an edge and just made it a bit funnier than it was.I have to admit that although there were a lot of things that I disliked about this film it's still a colourful and fairly lively film at times and Midler, Najimy and Parker do breathe some life into the film and make it much better than it has any right to be. I suspect that the basic level of escapism that it provides will please older children (its darker themes make it unsuitable for young children). For me though, despite it having some historical significance I just found the story a little weak and found the whole thing to be a little too wacky and crazy and sadly these things came at the expense of it being funny most of the time.

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denireguerrero

Hocus Pocus is a great Halloween Movie for any age. The plot is interesting because through out the movie three children are going against three witches and they steal their spell book. The low key lighting in the scene before the children enter the school at night creates suspense and a nerve-racking image. The part where the witches and the children are inside the movie gets because you can hear the lightning outside and again there's low key lighting, but there's a little bit of light from the candles. You can also hear the chandelier squeaky noise and swinging back and forth constantly from the wind. The special effects of the spell casting is cool to see because of the colors that appear on the screen and it has some sort of like lighting sound to it. There's really only medium lighting in the beginning, but it makes sense sense it is a Halloween movie. Hocus Pocus is also a comedy. Mostly for children, but I still watch it because it's not to scary and just a fun movie to watch with anyone.

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SnoopyStyle

It's been 300 years since the Sanderson sisters Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) were hung for sucking the life force from a girl. They vow to return to Salem with the help of a virgin and suck the life force from all the children. Max Dennison is a new in town. He's not into Halloween. Pretty girl Allison (Vinessa Shaw) gives his number back to him. Bullies steal his shoes. He is forced to take his sister Dani (Thora Birch) trick or treating. Trying to impress Allison, he and Dani go with her to the old Sanderson house and light the black flame candle. This brings the sisters back from the dead.This is definitely a children's horror movie. There is nothing here for everybody else. I don't like the kids. I really don't like the boy. Thora Birch is fine but she's more bratty than lovable. Vinessa Shaw is a blank. The three witches are not funny. They're not scary either, at least for adults. This may work for the kids. That's the best that I can say about it.

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