Hocus Pocus Review

In the colonial era of Salem, Mass., three wicked, but unwise witch sisters were hanged at the end of Hallowe'en night, having taken the life from the little girl and transformed her brother into a legendary cat. In 1993, teenage Max (Omri Katz) is required to take his younger sister Dani (Thora Birch) for a trick-or-treat, and ends ending up lighting a magical candle that, since the girl is virgin, brings back the buck-toothed Winifred (Midler) as well as Mooncalf Mary (Najimy) along with seductive Sarah (Parker). The witches are given just one evening to take the souls of children from the town to remain forever.

Although this is the first Walt Disney family comedy to have a decapitated zombie, with his lips shut the film is a bit uncomfortable and falls back to the slapstick supernatural from the Blackbeard's Ghost or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The story unravels like an old cardigan , as the three sisters don't impress anyone: Midler finds an excuse to sing I Put A Spell On You at the annual Hallowe'en hop; Najimy, the hilarious-squeaky sister of Sister Act, repeats her skit in a witchy way as well as Parker who is slightly better than the other characters and impersonates Carol Kane's brutal fairy from Scrooged.