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Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus

Fantasy · Comedy · Family · 1993

After 300 years of slumber, three sister witches are accidentally resurrected in Salem on Halloween night, and it is up to three kids and their newfound feline friend to put an end to the witches' reign of terror once and for all.

Movie details

Hocus Pocus

“It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus.”

1993 Fantasy · Comedy · Family 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

After 300 years of slumber, three sister witches are accidentally resurrected in Salem on Halloween night, and it is up to three kids and their newfound feline friend to put an end to the witches' reign of terror once and for all.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Hocus Pocus?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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A girl, sent by her parents to live with her two eccentric aunts, finds out on her sixteenth birthday that she is a witch.

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A boy with an active imagination faces his fears on an unforgettable journey through the night with his new friend: a giant, smiling creature named Dark.

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Animation · 1985

Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers.

Christopher Robin

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Christopher Robin, the boy who had countless adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood, has grown up and lost his way. Now it’s up to his spirited and loveable stuffed animals, Winnie The Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and the rest of the gang, to rekindle their friendship and remind him of endless days of childlike wonder and make-believe, when doing nothing was the very best something.

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Marnie puts her magic on the line to get several Halloweentown teenagers transferred to her high school in the mortal world. But soon, Marnie and her new friends are in trouble and out of luck when the evil Knight Of The Iron Dagger appears. He's determined to destroy all things magical, and it's up to Marnie to save her high school, the human world and her magic.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Kenny Ortega

Written by

Mick Garris · Neil Cuthbert · David Kirschner

Omri Katz

Omri Katz

Max Dennison

Thora Birch

Thora Birch

Dani Dennison

Vinessa Shaw

Vinessa Shaw

Allison

Bette Midler

Bette Midler

Winifred Sanderson

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Sanderson

Kathy Najimy

Kathy Najimy

Mary Sanderson

Tobias Jelinek

Tobias Jelinek

Jay

Court is in session

Put Hocus Pocus on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.