The Craft (1996)

Way before Netflix, way before getting the courage to rent a movie at the extinct Hollywood Video store (WHY????I loved Hollywood Video...), my mother took my brother and I to her friends small video rental store on Melrose Blvd.

As I waited for my mom to finish gossiping with her friend, I used to play this mini game with myself. I would slowly browse the aisles and see how many horror video boxes I could look at before freaking out. It would usually average about.......two. The minute my eyes would alight on "Hell raiser" or "Chuckie", I was rushing to my mothers side for a nice cuddle.

Fast forward to a few months ago (heh, that's kinda confusing isn't it? Remember what the Doctor said,time is "wibbly wobbly timey wimey"), I suddenly remembered the cover of a movie I noticed during those mini games that I was always curious about. It featured four girls walking with an eerie bunch of lighting behind them. I have no idea why I thought of it then.Either way,I blurted out the description to the right person who told me the title: "The Craft".

I'm not too sure why...but they title has me thinking about Ghostbusters....

This is not the scariest movie in the horror industry. I don't even think it's even horror, more like a thriller. To even subdue it even further, it's thriller-lite. Yet it still makes me a little bit nervous every time I watch it. Just a teeny weeny bit nervous.

What makes this movie pretty awesome is that it's a thriller with a female cast. What a refreshing change. For once, there are females that are not stuck as a sexy screaming victim. Instead, they're sexy witches!

"The Craft" involves the drama between four high school girls. A new girl named, Sarah arrives at a Catholic school where she makes friends with three other girls; Nancy, Rochelle, and Bonnie.The three girls are the outcasts of the school, each suffering from their own personal crisis. The trio wishes and tries to become witches to escape their problem by investing their energy into learning witchcraft. As they welcome Sarah, they are delighted to realize that Sarah actually has magic powers. Along the way, the rest of the group develop powers and just go absolutely crazy. The girls not only solve their personal problems, they go even further by improving their social status in school.

As to be expected, the extra power the girls obtained have ultimately gone to their heads. Their heads begin to swell with arrogance and drunken power,they wreck destruction around them. Ever the voice of sanity, Sarah begins to question their actions. This begins to widen the gap between her and the trio. As typical of any female herd, they begin to turn against her the more she stands up to them.

Then they all decide to attempt the summoning of a demon. The consequences lead to their unraveling.

What ultimately scared me was the thought of what would happen if I or my own friends were able to obtain such power. I'm pretty sure I would end up doing the same deeds as the trio. That is what witchcraft is to a woman. The ability to harness powers to triumph over others. To be unabashedly powerful.

It would definitely change a person. I don't give a fig on how much "you would never stoop to do such a thing". Bull.

If I had to choose between the long and difficult road of self discovery and overcoming my obstacles versus the super speedway to getting whatever the hell I wanted then Bing! Option B it is. The disclaimer? If I knew what the consequences were, then I would change my tune.

That's the pea in the mattress. It's knowing what will happen that will have people twist that stick further up their butts and claim they would not do as the girls did in "The Craft". But what if you didn't know the consequences? Not even one bit? What if you were so far down from getting kicked that all you saw was the glimmer of hope? Even the light was held by a demonic hand? Then would you still hold your high moral ground?

I highly doubt that.

The final fight scene towards the end is one that really terrifies me. It's not even because of the three girls. It's the supposed sweet and wholesome Sarah. At some quick point in the movie she turns into a chillingly modern day witch. I think it has something to do with hearing her mothers voice. But damn! She has completely changed to a Sarah that scares the crap out of me! Almost as if she accepted the witch within her and has brought her out. I end up feeling sorry for Nancy as she's yelling out in the cell.

Like I said, it's not really a horror or even remotely a thriller. For me, it doesn't even have to be marketed as such to inflict such feelings. The movie would really resonate with the female outcasts of the world. Granted it's a little bit stereotypical with each girl representing some major teen issue. But hey, it's the nineties. Generalizations and stereotypes are a given.


Even after being chilled, I still have that small wish to be a witch.