Childhood Whimsy in Hocus Pocus
There isn’t much criticism in this post, I’ll be honest. I re-watched Hocus Pocus (1993) last night as part of my annual October festivities, and I was struck by the nostalgia that accompanied it.
I’ve always loved Halloween. From the first time I got my grubby little hands on a library card, I’ve been using it to gain access to the creepy and the macabre. Goosebumps books were easy to come by in our house, and I prided myself on memorizing ghost stories and occult trivia from the Haunted Canada series, too. So it comes to no surprise that I ended up pressuring my parents into watching Hocus Pocus at the ripe old age of four, and of course, there were elements of this movie that terrified me. The witches, of course, were part of it, but I think the imminent threat of child-eating was what really got Little Lauryn double-checking the lock on her window every night.
I think I was about six when my family and I decided to make Hocus Pocus an annual Halloween tradition. I would spend most of October decorating the house and working on my costume, Halloween would come around and I would get a Responsible Adult of some sort to take me trick-or-treating around the neighbourhood, we would make hot chocolate and I’d settle down to an age-appropriate spooky film.
Revisiting Hocus Pocus last night brought back a lot of those memorable moments for me, many moments I had forgotten having lived on the opposite coast from my parents for the last year and a bit. I know this is supposed to be Gothic/Horror blog, but a little inner child work never hurt anyone, right?
Hocus Pocus is still delightful nearly 30 years later, at least to me. I think even removing myself from the above nostalgia trip to look at it as a scholar the film has stood the test of time. It’s funny, engaging, well-written, well-acted, and the effects are still extremely effective, if not more so than modern FX, if only because the effects of the time fit the campy 90s creepy vibe of the story.
If you haven’t seen it yet (or in a while) may I suggest giving it another try? It’s an hour and a half of pure 90s camp if nothing else. But, I think you’ll find it has more to offer than just 90s cheese.
