“It’s all just a bunch of Hocus Pocus!”
This time of the year just wouldn’t be complete without watching Hocus Pocus. Everybody just loves the cultural phenomenon film starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy. In fact, it plays every single day on TV throughout the month of October. The film came out in 1993 and is a comedy fantasy that was directed by Kenny Ortega. It revolves around a trio of witches in Salem, Massachusetts that are resurrected on Halloween.
The jest of the film is that Thackery Binx tries to save his sister from three evil witches who turn him into a cat and are then put to death in the Salem Witch Trials. Then three hundred years later, the same witches reappear on Halloween night after a virgin lights the black flame candle. The cast of the film were trained by choreographers to learn how to use their brooms properly and makeup artists perfected the looks so they wouldn’t be deemed too scary. Although this movie didn’t receive positive reviews from the critics or have high box office sales when it was released, it turned into a smash hit and remains popular to this day.
The producer and co-writer of the film, David Kirschner, convinced execs to make it during his pitch meeting by having brooms on the ceiling, a fifteen pound bag of candy corn on the table and pictures of black cats drawn by children on display. He convinced them that Halloween is profitable and they agreed. Turns out they were all correct! The three leading ladies have all stated to the media that they are interested in doing a sequel. Stay tuned!
Congrats to Hocus Pocus for achieving film cult status and being a Halloween classic; the legacy of the Sanderson Sisters lives on!