Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus – The Sanderson Sisters
All rights belong to Walt Disney Pictures

In honor of it being October, and because this movie is always shown during the Halloween season, let’s take a look at Hocus Pocus.

The movie tells the story of three sisters (The Sanderson Sisters) who are put to death in the 1600’s in Salem, Massachusetts; and are accidentally raised from the dead 300 years later, and are on a quest for immortality. While this is a Disney movie, the theme itself is not very Disney-like. In order for the witches to essentially live forever and stay “young and beautiful,” they must suck the lives out of children. Once brought back from the dead, their mission is to re-continue what they have always done, and suck the lives of out of children to be young forever, and gain immortality. The movie stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

The Witches being sentenced to death during the 1600′s in Salem, Massachusetts:

Bette Midler stars at Winifred “Winnie” Sanderson, the oldest sister, and leader of the pack. She’s portrayed as being the strongest and most intelligent of the group, as well as having the power of electrokinesis.

Kathy Najimy stars as Mary Sanderson, and is the second oldest of the sisters. While not as intelligent as Winifred, she is useful when it comes to casting spells, and serves as Winifred’s emotional support. She has a keen eye for attention, and has the power to “sniff” out children. The word “sniff” is used simply because that’s what she does, she uses her sense of smell to located children. Arguably, one can say that she’s simply detailed-oriented, and her being able to located children through the power of smell is just another example of her keen eye for attention.

Sarah Jessica Parker plays Sarah Sanderson, the youngest of the children. She’s portrayed as the most beautiful one, often acting naïve and having a child-like mentality. She tends to annoy her sisters through her constant lack of paying attention, yet is very useful when  it comes to capturing children. Her power is essentially acting like a “siren” and luring individuals, mostly children, through her voice. She tends to mesmerize those around her using her voice, mostly through song, allowing children to be lured and eventually killed by the sisters.

Sarah Sanderson performing “Come Little Children” in order to lure children to their death:

FAB’s View:

This movie is simply awesome. It’s definitely a Halloween classic. Sure it’s Disney oriented, but Disney has a smart way of marketing movies geared towards kids, while including adult-like themes to lure the older crowd. Think about it? Who takes all these little kids to see Disney movies? The parents of course. Simply stated, if one were to describe the movie in one sentence it would be: The movie is about three witches who come back from the dead, and kill children in order to be young and beautiful forever.

Sure the movie is campy and cliché (Witches in Salem?!?!? Stereotyping are we?!), and it really isn’t scary, but it’s one of those Halloween movies that is just plain entertaining. The setting and costumes are nicely put together, and the story itself is easy to follow. It’s received a cult status. During the Halloween season it is shown on TV, and watched by millions. Hey there’s even a Facebook page dedicated to the movie’s cult following!

When it comes to a fun, yet entertaining Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus is definitely a safe bet.

… That’s all!