“It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus.” This Catholic Mom’s Movie Review

Hocus Pocus is one of my favorite movies to watch in the fall.  The music, the acting, the comedic relief amidst the frightening story of three witches who attempt to suck the souls out of children, the scenery of beautiful Salem, Massachusetts.  Since I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of horror movies, Hocus Pocus is a nice, nostalgic movie to enjoy a couple of times during the season.

While I will not let my children watch Hocus Pocus, ever, I am wondering if the film has lost its touch for me.  Even though the spells the witches say are not real, several times during the movie, I felt myself praying the Hail Mary. 

I also found too many parallels to society today to “just enjoy the movie.”  For instance, when the children find their parents at the Halloween party and try to warn them about the witches return, the witches “put a spell” on all the partygoers.

​This seems a lot like society today in which some parents are under various secular spells, whether they are being entranced on their cell phones, tablets, computers or televisions and the children grow up before their blue light ridden eyes.
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​Or how the Sanderson sisters main objective is to be young and live forever.  Too often, are people focused on looking more youthful and altering their bodies instead of accepting the natural process of aging.  While we are at it, there is an Irish proverb which states, “getting older is a privilege denied to many.” 

Lastly, the overall desire of the witches to “suck the lives out of children” is fresh as child trafficking, child pornography, while always a dire problem, has been in the news (not the fake news 😉) quite a bit this year.

There is one part in the movie, however, where Catholicism triumphs, although not explicitly stated. It is when the children and Zachary Binx (the talking cat) run to the cemetery.  The cat (who was once a human but doomed by the witches to be a cat for the rest of his life, after they sucked the soul out of his sister and killed her in the beginning of the movie) tells the children that the witches can’t go into the cemetery because it is “Hallowed ground.”

​Who makes the ground “Hallowed” or Holy?  Catholic Priests, by the power of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, when they bury the dead.

Whether or not Hocus Pocus will be on my future agenda for the Fall season is up for debate.  Is the film one of your nostalgic Fall favorites?  Please, share with us on Facebook!
 
As always, thank you for reading and May the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always.