Thrashbrowns v. Mouse House: Halloween 2020 Special!!

 Hocus Pocus (1993)

The Story:

When a kid named Max accidentally resurrects the three Sanderson sister-witches, he, his little sister, his love interest and a couple of amusing sidekicks must kick witchy ass and stop them from sucking out the life-force of all the kids in Salem, MA.

Has Thrashbrowns seen this? Why or why not?

No. As for why, well the film's description on Disney+ reads:

"Conjured up by some unsuspecting pranksters, a tricky trio of 300-year-old witches set out to cast a spell on the town and reclaim their youth. But first, they must get their act together and outwit those kids and a talking cat."

What about that sounds like something I'd be interested in sitting through? You know, apart from the talking cat?

The Good:

There's a talking cat. That's pretty cool. Cuz it's a cat. That talks.

There are some pretty funny one-liners and dialogue exchanges. Like: "What am I gonna do with the rest of my afternoon?" "Learn to breathe through your nose?"

But the best part of this movie, BY FAR, is Winifred Sanderson's corpsified, reanimated lover, Billy Butcherson. This dude is hilarious. Just a guy who's had it with those witches and their bullshit. After watching this flick, I can empathize.

The Bad:

I could talk about the bland kid characters, but I can give them a pass cuz they're kids. I could harp on the tone that tries to be creepy, cutesy and funny all at the same time and isn't particularly successful at any of them. But I'm gonna save my biggest gripe for the next section...

Most Annoying Disney-ism:

The comedic antagonists. Ugh. Disney does this quite a bit, whether you're talking about Prince John in Robin Hood or Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove, among others. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. It doesn't work here. 

Instead of a funny, appealing bad guy, we get a trio of over-the-top, obnoxious villains that are a chore to sit through. In particular, Winifred really grated me. Perhaps it was because she was played by Bette Midler...

Annoying comedic bad guys are something I must be particularly sensitive to. I had the same basic problem with Jim Carrey's character in the Sonic the Hedgehog flick. I realize I'm the problem. But that realization didn't help me enjoy these characters any more.

Does Thrashbrowns get why people love this?

There are movies I don't care for but still understand why people love them. Hocus Pocus isn't one of them. Then again, most of the people I know who love this movie are women. The day I understand how women think and why they like what they like will be the day the oceans freeze solid.

Did Thrashbrowns like it?

You can probably guess, but here's why: This movie combines so much of what I don't like in movies: cute kids, annoying "funny" characters, Bette Midler... Plus, they (SPOILER ALERT) killed the talking cat. There are some good things in Hocus Pocus and I get that humor is subjective. But, daaaaaamn did I not like this movie.

Up Next:

We get back to the requests with Escape to Witch Mountain.