FILM FOCUS: HOCUS POCUS

Hocus Pocus is the moon landing of my generation. The question among my peers is not “Have you seen Hocus Pocus?” but “Where were you when you first saw Hocus Pocus?”  It is a litmus test against which all other Halloween movies will forever be judged: “It was good, but it wasn’t as good as Hocus Pocus.”  I will not insult you by offering up any sort of synopsis, as it must be assumed that you have seen Hocus Pocus many, many times and if not that you are locked away in some sort of Siberian gulag and therefore do not have access to this blog post in the first place.

Besides being a great movie (it makes my Top 100 list) it’s the greatest Halloween movie ever made for, unlike many other so-called Halloween films, the emphasis is on the holiday itself.  The majority of the movie takes place on Halloween night and every possible Halloween related thing is thrown in: witches, trick-or-treating, lavishly decorated suburban houses, Satan (in the form of Gary Marshall), a costume party with a skeleton band, a zombie, a graveyard, a talking black cat.  True there is a distinct lack of vampires, but the Dad is costumed as Dracula just to cover the bases.  It’s like they made a Halloween checklist and made sure to include everything.

Thackery Binx (not Zachary).  This picture alone is so Halloween I can hardly stand it!

I was thrilled when, during the Bette Midler episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio, host James Lipton asked Midler about Hocus Pocus.  She further cemented the movie’s worthiness by describing it as “one of my finest hours.”

The movie has mass kid and nostalgia appeal, but it also has major queer appeal, which makes sense given that it was directed by Kenny Ortega, a gay man who later went on to craft another jewel in the Disney cinema crown, the even gayer High School Musical series.  Here are some of the things that make Hocus Pocus gay:  Better Midler (bonus gay points for the inclusion of Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker).  The “I Put a Spell On You” number.  The mom vouging while dressed as Madonna in the cone bra.  The Sanderson sisters are essentially drag queens.  Plus the hero of the film is bullied, a sadly relatable state of affairs for most queer people.

 

My favorite scene: Medusa, Satan, slow-dancing, Clark bars.

People (mostly my boyfriend) got very, VERY excited when the internets reported that a sequel, Hocus Pocus 2: Rise of the Elder Witch, was in the works.  It was a total hoax and that horror-movie sounding subtitle should have been the tip-off.  As long as all three actresses (this is the one and only thing I like Sarah Jessica Parker in) returned as the Sanderson Sisters I'm there.  But we need more than a sequel.  We need a ride at Disneyland.  We need a Criterion Collection Blu Ray release.  We need in-theater retrospectives every October and statues of the Sanderson Sisters erected in Salem next to the statue of Samantha Stevens.  We need Hocus Pocus in our lives every October and, per tradition, it's what we'll be watching tonight as the grand finale of the Halloween season.  

Hocus Pocus = Halloween.

Happy Halloween from the Sanderson Sisters & me!