As someone who isn’t a massive fan of Halloween movies or anything Halloween or horror adjacent, admittedly, I didn’t have high hopes while watching this. However, I found myself pleasantly surprised upon watching this. Admittedly, this film is rated PG, so it may be easily deduced that nothing particularly horrific would happen, but one can never be too certain! Interestingly enough, when the film first hit theatres, it received many mixed reviews from critics and lost Disney around $16.5 million during its theatrical run. However, through numerous airings on Disney Channel and Freeform during October, Hocus Pocus has been rediscovered by audiences, resulting in a yearly spike in home media sales of the film each Halloween, helping the film become a cult classic.

The film opens in the year 1693, set in Salem, Massachusetts. The use of a panning establishing shot to help set the film’s aesthetic as whimsical and haunting is immensely effective as the camera sweeps over the landscape. This allows the audience to contextualise the period in which the film is set. Additionally, as the film’s lighting is primarily low-key, it helps add to the ‘Halloweeny’ aesthetic, alongside showcasing the grainier film footage of the time.

The shot above highlights the use of low-key lighting through the selected colouring of the film, successfully integrating the shot into the rule of thirds. This creates a satisfying aesthetic effect for the audience through the use of low-key lighting, which is amplified through the introduction of Thackery from the left side of the screen, as this creates a sense of juxtaposition between the foreground and background. Additionally, the darker background of the scene creates an unnerving and uncomfortable effect for the audience.

As the film continues with a skip three centuries later, allowing Ortega to highlight the dramatic shift in the attitude the town of Salem has had in relation to the witches, as they have moved from being feared and hated by the town of Salem, to being viewed as icons of the past and a memory of the prior horrific Halloween past.

In contrast to the prior image, the lighting within this shot is much more high-key and aesthetically pleasing, showcasing the changing attitudes of the people in Salem. The imagery within the shot further highlights the shifts in the period. The change can be highlighted through the differing styles of the houses now, as the angular shape of the houses aligns with a kiki-esque (Ramachandran and Hubbard) reading of the film, further allowing the audience to align with the thoughts of the main character, Max, who has recently moved to Salem with his family and has a strong dislike for the town he now lives in. Additionally, the colour palette of the scene further helps align the audience with Max’s perspective of the town, the plainness of the town contrasts with the storyline and the later excitement of the plot.

Additionally, the music within the film further adds to the feeling of being set in the 90s; the famous 1956 song, ‘I put a spell on you’ features prominently throughout the film and acts as an essential plot point within the movie when the three witches visit the party with all the adults in attendance.

The musical number above is so iconic as the song is period-appropriate, and the use of the three witches (as pictured above) highlights the almost feminist reading of the film. After all, the film passes the Bechdel test (as defined by Laura Mulvey) on numerous occasions. The Sanderson sisters have conversations about magic, children, and many other topics of a similar nature. Ortega’s decision to include this iconic musical number only furthers the idea that Hocus Pocus can be regarded as a strong representation of female characters.

Overall, this film is not at all how I first made it out to be. Although it is still a Halloween movie, it can certainly be regarded as ‘spooky’ rather than as a horror film. I believe this is a perfect film to watch with children in October to Halloween, as it perfectly encapsulates the spooky feeling of Halloween while still promoting a fulfilling message to whoever is watching. Despite the film being unpopular upon its first release, the Sanderson sisters are now culturally renowned as Halloween legends, with many cinemas doing special screenings of this movie in the time coming up to Halloween.