Ahh ‘Hocus Pocus’ A movie that evaded me for the longest time (i’d seen clips and chunks of it here and there over the years, but it wasnt until the late 2010’s that I actually conciously sat down and watched the whole thing tail to snout) and, it’s probably not going to be the most original review in the world to say that I genuinely and sincerely enjoy it.
The plot, a coven of witches who commit atrocities in the 17th century, are hung, but by the power of a curse, are ressurected in 1993, just in time for Halloween COULD have the potential to be played out as a rather grizzly horror tale, however the decisions been made instead to basically play it as a mash up of a YA horror flick, with a healthy dose of ‘The Three Stooges’ and a liberal scoop of campy good fun.
And thats basically this whole thing across the board, it’s a Disney/Buena Vista movie (not that that guarentees quality…But it means it’s more likely to be a hit than a miss broadly speaking) So I didnt go into this expecting anything abysmal, and I wasnt honestly dissapointed.
The scripts lively, acidic and very humourous mixing several different comedy styles to create a solid blend thats fun for all the family, it doesnt feel overly long, it’s well paced has a wickedly fun tone and ends in a satisfying way.
The characters are all multi layered, decently written and enaging with enough complexity to keep audiences interested but not so much that younger audience members minds would wander. The dialogues a little bit iffy in places, but im putting that more down to the time it was written than anything else, and when the dialogue DOES hit, it knocks it out of the park.
The direction and cine are just…wonderful, especially for a movie like this which could have easily been relegated a ‘cheap and cheerful’ attitude. It excels in showing 90s suburbia as a rich and colourful visual delight and theres enough special effects and solid sequence structuring here to keep people avidly watching.
The cast are superb with our three Sanderson sisters easily being some of the best Disney written characters ever committed to script, though it does have the unfortunate side effect that, because they’re SO well written, it does make the rest of the cast feel a little sub-par as a result. Non of them are bad by any stretch…they’re just not as good.
Theres also a couple of wobbly moment on dialogue delivery, i’d say its a pretty even split though between the dialogue being a bit rough in places, and the actors not quite nailing the right tone for delivery. it’s missing heart at times.
The scorings perfect…Look. ‘Hocus Pocus’ may not be for everyone, but it’s solid plotting and pacing, enaging cast work and razor direction and cine really make it stand out from the other Disney YA offerings of the time. A perfect family film, theres humour to suit almost all tastes here, and when its not trading on comedy, theres a rock solid foundation for a decently told leading plot running right under the surface of this thing.
I barely go a year without catching it at some point, and every time I always forget just how fun it really is.
TYTD Reviews 