‘Hocus Pocus’ at 30: How The Sanderson Sisters Bewitched Audiences Despite An Underwhelming Run at the Box Office Back in 1993

The official anniversary of Hocus Pocus might have been back in July, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate. Truly, there’s no better time to rewatch the 1993 cult classic fantasy comedy and honor its 30th anniversary than a Saturday in early October, as we’re all getting ready for Halloween. So grab your candy, cauldrons, and brooms (or vacuum cleaners, because apparently those work just fine for flying, too) and get ready to take a wonderfully witchy walk down memory lane.

When it first premiered in theaters, Hocus Pocus was not an immediate hit. It underperformed at the box office — what did Disney expect when they released a Halloween movie in July!?! — and scored a 40% on the TomatoMeter from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Even so, much like its three main witches, the film rose from the seeming-dead and gained a second life upon its home media rerelease and has since become a Halloween season cult classic.

The plot of Hocus Pocus begins in Salem, Massachusetts on October 31, 1693, when Thackery Binx (Sean Murray) witnesses his little sister, Emily (Amanda Shepherd) get kidnapped and sapped of her life force by wicked witch sisters Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary Sanderson (Kathy Najimy). Unable to rescue his sister in time, Thackery is caught by the Sandersons and forced to forever live in his guilt as an immortal black cat.

The sisters are then killed by the people of Salem, but not before they cast a curse that will resurrect them if a virgin lights their Black Flame Candle during a full moon on All Hallows’ Eve. While these very specific conditions seem like they should be impossible to meet, it just takes 300 years for a daring virgin (they bring up the virgin thing a lot in this movie) in the form of teenaged Los Angeles transplant, Max Dennison (Omri Katz), to light the candle and inadvertently bring these hilarious hellions back to life.

Max joins forces with his precocious 8-year-old sister, Dani (Thora Birch), his school crush, Allison (Vinessa Shaw), and talking cat (because of course he can talk and everyone’s just fine with it), Thackery to stop the Sandersons from stealing the life forces of Salem’s children to become young, beautiful, and immortal. What ensues is campy tomfoolery that includes surprisingly adult jokes, cartoonish bullies, and a Bette Middler musical performance so bewitching it enchants all of Salem’s parents into a night of negligence.

There’s something for everyone in Hocus Pocus. It truly evokes the fun, mayhem, and magic of Halloween without taking itself too seriously, and is still a whacky, whimsical delight even 30 years later. The film achieved such a hallowed place in the Halloween canon that it got its own sequel in 2022 — aptly titled Hocus Pocus 2 — a full 29 years after the original was in theaters. Do yourselves a favor this October and watch Hocus Pocus to really get in the Halloween spirit, then keep the good times rolling by watching 2022 sequel, too!

Stream Hocus Pocus on Disney+