HOCUS POCUS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating: 6.3 out of 10 (C, ** out of ****)
Date Released: 7/16/93 Running Length: 1:36 Rated: PG (Walking corpses)
Starring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw Director: Kenny Ortega Producers: David Kirschner and Steven Haft Screenplay: Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert Music: John Debney Released by Walt Disney Pictures
It's 1693 and a trio of witches (Winifred, played by Bette Midler; Sarah, played by Sarah Jessica Parker; and Mary, played by Kathy Najimy) are preparing a spell that will ensure them immortality and eternal youth. However, before the magic is complete, the people of Salem capture and execute the three for consorting with the devil. Before their deaths, the witches vow to return on some future All Hallow's Eve. Three hundred years later, a skeptic by the name of Max (Omri Katz) ventures into the ruins of the witches' house, daring the supernatural to manifest itself. Heedless of warnings of his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and schoolmate Allison (Vinessa Shaw), Max lights the dreaded Candle of Black Flame. Suddenly, the three Sanderson sisters have a second lease on life, and this time they don't intend to waste it. Now it's up to Max, with the help of Dani, Allison, and a talking black cat, to correct his error and stop them before it's too late.
Like so many films that mix genres, in trying to do too much, HOCUS POCUS succeeds in very little. The comedy is sporadic and not often tremendously funny, the horror won't frighten anyone over 8, and the adventure is dull and routine. As a family film, HOCUS POCUS is passable--you can take the kids to it and they'll probably have a good time--but there doesn't seem to be any great advantage in venturing into a theater to see this movie. It's unremarkable enough that it won't lose much on video.
It seems that the root of HOCUS POCUS' weaknesses lies in its inability to develop believable characters. In the absence of nonstop, uproarious comedy or pulse-pounding action, strong characters are needed. What we get, however, are a number of poorly-written creations that are taken from the writers' stock of readily-available personalities. For the most part, the scenes that are intended to set up relationships are laughably absurd and difficult to accept.
Poor acting comes into play. Omri Katz is a bad choice for the hero of this piece. Actually, "hero" might not be the right word for his role--Max is so stupid and annoying at times that we wish the witches would stick him in their kettle and boil him alive. He treats his little sister like a burden (which is not entirely unrealistic for someone his age) and does some of the most amazingly stupid things. Everything that happens in HOCUS POCUS is essentially his fault.
The normally-steady Bette Midler has some fun chewing on the scenery in a part that is played as intended: over-the-top. Clearly in Ms. Midler's shadow, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy give such muted performances as to be virtually invisible. They do a lot of Three Stooges' physical gags, but without having mastered timing.
Generally, HOCUS POCUS lacks energy. The direction by Kenny Ortega (who began his career as a choreographer) is flat, and the camerawork workmanlike (this is surprising considering that the cinematographer is Hiro Narita). The audience's basic disconnection with the characters is part of the problem, but that's not all of it. HOCUS POCUS is not a lot of fun. The film basically amounts to a great deal of pointless running around. The inventiveness that we keep expecting never materializes and by the end we're still wondering if and when something's going to happen to either galvanize us or cause us to double over with laughter.
The previews for this film give a good indication of the movie's overall quality--it's like a live-action "Broom Hilda." The best part of the movie--a couple of cameos by brother and sister Gary and Penny Marshall--are also highlighted by HOCUS POCUS' theatrical trailers, so they aren't much of a surprise when they happen.
There are a few special effects in HOCUS POCUS, but nothing new or ground-breaking. The walking corpse isn't a masterpiece of design, but it's done well--neither too real to be genuinely frightening nor too fake to be laughable. The parts of the film with the zombie try too hard to be campy, the results of which are less-than-successful. For fun at the expense of the dead, see Sam Raimi's latest directorial venture, ARMY OF DARKNESS.
At any rate, HOCUS POCUS is an occasionally dull, mostly pedantic motion picture with little to recommend it. It belongs on the long list of summer movies that will quickly be buried and forgotten until it surfaces on video in another six months. Frankly, that's the fate it deserves. It isn't putrid but, for my money, there are quite a few other films I'd see before this one. HOCUS POCUS never lives up to what little potential the premise has.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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