Hocus Pocus 2: Does it Measure Up?

Kayden Stevens, Staff Writer

 We all know that with holidays, come fan-favorite movies used to get into the holiday spirit. Among these is Hocus Pocus, a well-loved, Halloween classic. Hocus Pocus is a Halloween movie that came out before sequels became common. There weren’t a lot of Halloween movies when the original movie was made in 1993, which is one of the reasons that the original Hocus Pocus was and continues to be so popular. Because of the lack of other Halloween movies, the Hocus Pocus has created such a strong fan base that it is still watched and talked about today, even before the second movie came out. One of the risks with making sequels is when the movie is released, everyone expects it to either be as good as the first one or even better. This can become a problem and cause people to create bad reviews when audiences watch it and find that the movie doesn’t fit their grand expectations. I thought Hocus Pocus 2 was a good film for sure, but the first movie just has that sweet originality to it.

The overall plot of Hocus Pocus 2 was that a group of amatuer witches accidently summon the Sanderson sisters back to modern day Salem. Following the summoning, the girls have to try to find a way to stop the Sanderson sisters from wreaking havoc on the town. The movie brings back Bette Miller, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker, the actresses who played the Sanderson sisters in the first movie. Focusing on the characters themselves, the Sanderson sisters were holding the fan base together with their funny, witty, and evil personalities. Keeping that same character and making a better storyline would’ve been my first goal in making this movie, but instead the creators took the characters and sort of humanized them. They made the characters feel warm and less scary to the viewers. Since the first movie was such a classic the change of character kind of took away authenticity, and the humor of the characters was also very different. Although the second movie was a bit out of place, anyone who watched the first movie can without a doubt say that watching the sisters haunt us again after 29 years was a delight and was a great film.