31 Days of Halloween: Three-Witches Glee

Hocus Pocus (1993)
********* (9 out of 10 stars)
Director: Kenny Ortega
Producer: David Kirschner, Steven Haft
Starring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw

“Oh, look. Another glorious morning. Makes me sick!” – Winifred Sanderson

Ah, dear reader… or should I say, fellow traveler of the twilight? Let us descend into the cobwebbed corridors of memory, where celluloid ghosts flicker and dance upon the silver screen. There, nestled among the forgotten reels and dusty VHS clamshells, lies a film I once dismissed with a scoff and a curl of the lip: Hocus Pocus.

When it first emerged from the cauldron of Hollywood in 1993, I turned away. “Another diva’s delight,” I muttered, “a confection of ego wrapped in witch’s garb.” I feared it would be a hollow spectacle, a broomstick ride through vanity and glitter. And so, I left it to slumber.

But time, that most cunning of necromancers, has a way of resurrecting the past. In my annual quest for Halloween tales—having already conjured The Witches of Eastwick, Bell, Book and Candle, and Practical Magic—I found myself with a curious void. What remained? What spell had I yet to cast?

And so, with popcorn in hand and skepticism in heart, I pressed play.

What followed, dear reader, was not a shriek of regret, but a cackle of delight.

Yes, it is a star-capade. Yes, Bette Midler twirls and howls with theatrical glee. But oh! What glorious, ghoulish fun! The Sanderson Sisters—Winifred, Sarah, and Mary—are a trio of deliciously wicked caricatures, each more delightfully deranged than the last. They do not merely act; they enchant. They do not perform; they possess.

The film is a love letter to Halloween itself—a time of mischief, magic, and mayhem. It evokes a world of pillowcase candy hauls, jack-o’-lantern grins, and moonlit misadventures. It is a crooked path through a crooked wood, leading to a house of witches and wonder.

Predictable? Yes. But like the crunch of autumn leaves beneath your feet, it is a familiarity that comforts. A ritual. A rite.

And in the end, as all good tales must, justice is served. The wicked are vanquished, the innocent prevail, and the night is left to the spirits.

So I say unto you: Watch it. Relish it. Let it haunt your home with its homespun charm and spectral laughter.

Nine stars out of ten, etched in the firmament like a constellation of candle flames.

And remember… they’ll be back.