Hocus Pocus [25th Anniversary Edition]

Director: Kenny Ortega Kenny Ortega

Overview

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy romp around like coked-up versions of The Three Stooges in the frantic Disney romp Hocus Pocus. The film begins in 1693 where three witches -- Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) -- are preparing a potion that will grant them immortality and eternal youth. But before they finish mixing their cocktail, the people of Salem capture them and execute them for practicing witchcraft. Before their deaths, they vow to return to Salem 300 years hence on Halloween to exact their revenge. Three hundred years later, a skeptical, newly transplanted Californian, Max (Omri Katz), explores the ruins of the legendary witches' house and dares the witches to manifest themselves. Disregarding the warnings of his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and girlfriend Allison (Vinessa Shaw), Max lights the Candle of Black Flame. With that, the witches reappear to wreak havoc on the town. The kids take off with the witches' spellbook and a musty tome of hexes and recipes. The sorceresses, who will die by the morning light if they don't recite the incantation for immortality, have to get the books by whatever means they can. So, Winifred, Sarah, and Mary hop on their broomsticks for a chase through Halloween night.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/31/2018
UPC:	0786936858662
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	PG
Source:	Walt Disney Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:36:00
Sales rank:	3,269

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bette Midler	Winifred Sanderson
Sarah Jessica Parker	Sarah Sanderson
Kathy Najimy	Mary Sanderson
Omri Katz	Max Dennison
Thora Birch	Dani Dennison
Vinessa Shaw	Allison
Amanda Shepherd	Emily
Tobias Jelinek	Jay
Stephanie Faracy	Jenny
Charles Rocket	Dave
Doug Jones	Billy Butcherson
Sean Murray	Thackery
Karyn Malchus	Headless Billy Butcherson
Kathleen Freeman	Miss Olin
Steve Voboril	Elijah
Norbert Weisser	Thackery's Father
Penny Marshall	uncredited cameo,uncredited cameo
Larry Bagby	Ernie/'Ice'
Mary Artz	Actor
Barbara Cohen	Actor
Ezra Sutton	Fireman #2
Don Yesso	Bus Driver
Michael McGrady	Cop
Leigh Hamilton	Cop's Girlfriend
Joe Malone	Singer
Teda Bracci	Calamity Jane
Peggy Holmes	Dancer
Jason Marsden	Thackery Binx
Vanna Bonta	Actor
John Debney	Composer

Technical Credits

Kenny Ortega

David Kirschner

Mick Garris

Neil Cuthbert

Greg Beeman

Kenny Ortega	Director,Screenwriter
Mary Gail Artz	Casting
Barbara Cohen	Casting
Steven Haft	Producer
David Kirschner	Producer,Screenwriter
Peter Montgomery	Special Effects
Glenn Wilder	Stunts
Ralph Winter	Executive Producer
Mick Garris	Screenwriter,Producer
Neil Cuthbert	Screenwriter
Greg Beeman	Screenwriter
Terry Frazee	Special Effects
Don Kirshner	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Children (though not young children) who find the humor of the Three Stooges just a wee bit too subtle may enjoy Hocus Pocus, but it's hard to imagine anyone else standing for this annoying piece of hokum. Putting criticism aside for a moment -- which in this case is pretty hard to do -- it's hard to imagine just who the folks at Touchstone/Disney aimed this piece of claptrap at. It's too disturbing for very young children, too obnoxious for adults and too dull for anyone in between. There's plenty of blame to go around, but let's start with the quartet of screenwriters, who took what should have been a workable high concept and destroyed it with a story which is totally unfocused (and makes no sense), dialogue that evokes physical pain in the listener, and characters that are both one dimensional and unlikable. At times, the story telling is so inept that it almost seems as if the screenplay was fashioned by having one writer "create" until he got tired, then having another writer take it from there -- but without letting him read what had come before. Almost as bad as the writing is Kenny Ortega's amazingly poor direction. Ortega seems to think that the way to cover up flaws in the writing is to play a scene as loudly as possible. If volume alone doesn't get the desired result, he adds in as much flailing as possible. As a result, Bette Midler is encouraged to offer a performance so excessive as to become genuinely vulgar -- and boring, to boot. Kathy Najimy is given one note to play and plays it incessantly, and Omri Katz is actively annoying. Sarah Jessica Parker comes off best of the leading players, managing against all odds to inject a few moments of interest and humor into the film. But the only actors to actually score big are Garry and Penny Marshall, whose little cameo is the high point of the film. Some of the special effects are good, some are not. The "I Put a Spell on You" sequence, however, was ill advised. Hocus is a fright, alright, but not the kind it intended to be.