Today’s quick review: Hocus Pocus. Max Dennison (Omri Katz), a teenage boy living in Salem, Massachusetts, accidentally gets involved in local history when he awakens Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy), a trio of witches who once tormented the town. Now Max, his sister Dani (Thora Birch), and his classmate Allison (Vinessa Shaw) have until dawn to stop the witches before their stay becomes permanent.
Hocus Pocus is a family fantasy comedy adventure about a group of children who accidentally resurrect a trio of witches on Halloween night. Through a series of mishaps, the Sanderson sisters get a crash course in the 20th century while Max and his friends scramble to find a way to stop them. Hocus Pocus is a fun and imaginative romp that fully embraces witchcraft, Halloween, and the mischief the right children can get up to on the wrong night.
Hocus Pocus has an energy that is hard to come by. The movie has no pretensions but instead embraces every aspect of its story, from the faux-Colonial history of the Sanderson sisters to the lighter Halloween traditions of modern Salem. The movie never hesitates to indulge in comedy, and it has a knack for picking seemingly random jokes that nevertheless hit the mark. The result is a romp that plays rather adroitly by its own rules.
At the same time, Hocus Pocus has heart. The story is loose, a thin excuse for classic witches to interact with the modern world, but the stakes are real enough to matter. The characters are likewise thin, but they are chosen well, and even the basic interactions between the witches and the kids are a treat to watch. Hocus Pocus is not high art, but it has the instincts it needs to make the audience care.
Hocus Pocus will not be for everyone. It has a tendency to make up the rules as it goes along, it unabashedly prioritizes comedy over plot, and it is missing the careful scripting and character work seen in other family movies. But for anyone willing to roll with the punches, Hocus Pocus is a passionate and surprisingly creative movie that is well worth checking out.
For a family adventure with a similar spirit, try The Goonies. For a more mature but similarly adventurous horror comedy, try The Lost Boys. For straight fantasy adventure with some of the same charm, try The Princess Bride or Stardust. For a more surreal family fantasy about witches, try The Witches.
[6.9 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107120/). I give it a 7.0 for energetic comedy with considerable upshot for the right viewer.