I was a little too young for Hocus Pocus when it first came out. I didn’t realize it was a Disney film until I saw it on Disney+. I’ve wanted to see it for a few years now, as it has gained a loyal cult following after an original critical and commercial flop in the early 1990’s. I wanted to save it for Halloween, but…eh what the heck. Why not now?
The film’s “hero” is Max Dennison, just a normal young man who just moved to Salem, Massachusetts. Max isn’t really super special, he’s just a regular kid with normal school issues and teenage anxiety.
This Halloween, he is “forced” to take his little sister Dani trick-or-treating. The night is rather miserable for both of them, until they stumble into the house of Max’s crush, Allison. The pretty Allison mentions that her family has a connection to a museum that had information on the famous witches of centuries before.
While Max is a “non-believer” on witches, turns out that the witches were real…and someone conjured them back for a spooky Halloween night. But these witches are not good by any means. They want to cause as much trouble as they can, as they know this Halloween night won’t last forever. Can Max and the rest save the day before anyone gets hurt?
Overall I was pretty disappointed by Hocus Pocus. It’s not a horrible film, just an average one. I know the film has a solid fanbase, but I agree with most critics back in 1993. It’s just kind of boring, and almost three decades later, the special effects are laughable. There have been rumors of a Hocus Pocus 2 for a few years, but I don’t think I would want to see that.
Score: C+
