HALLOWEEN REVIEW OF THE DAY: Hocus Pocus (1993)

Hocus Pocus is considered to be one of the definitive movies to watch around Halloween time. Though it shows countless times on TV around this time, ironically it has been a while since I have seen this movie so I am going to try my best to review it and give my current opinion based on what I can remember. The movie is about three witches in Salem, Massachusetts  played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy who like to lure children in with a chant and feed off their souls. When one of the children's brother tries to rescue her, the witches transform him into a cat. An angry mob wishes to hang the witches but they put a spell on themselves to be frozen till the next Halloween when a virgin lights their candle. It so happens that they wake up three hundred years later in 1993 as they wreak chaos in modern day Salem as it us up to a teenage boy, his sister, his crush, the cat, and a friendly zombie to stop the witches from devouring the souls of all the children. From what I remember about it I thought the three witches were pretty enjoyable. I think they helped make the cliched "fish out of water" story all the more enjoyable when they interacted with the people of the modern era. Plus, I remember the song number they had during the movie was pretty entertaining. I also remember at times, though I was a kid, they could be quite intimidating too and act villainous whenever they are not being goofy or funny. I remember the scene where the Sarah Jessica Parker witch is flying on her broomstick and singing that spell that lured the children of Salem to them so that they can have their souls taken away. When I was little I found that scene to be kind of creepy. I do not know how well the witches or that particular scene holds up today, but if you are a kid, chances are they will suck you in at that age, I remembered it worked for me. I do not know much about the main protagonists in the movie, either they are highly forgettable or just did not hold up as much and were just products of the time. But to be fair they were interesting when I watched the movie, and at least they were good role models, from what I remember. They wanted to save the day and not let the witches eat childrens' soul. Seems like a pretty good motive. I also like how the zombie in this movie actually turned out to be friendly and decided to help the protagonists out. I thought that was fun and original. So all in all though I do not remember a lot about this movie, I hope all from what I have said makes up for a satisfying review. I just see Hocus Pocus as a fun family film to watch around Halloween time.  Grade: P-