Hocus Pocus is Perfect

I have an insane amount of love for this Halloween flick. Like way more than you think I mean when I say an insane amount. Like the other day, someone asked me which fictional universe would I want to live in and without hesitation I yelled Hocus Pocus Salem! with food still in my mouth... As nostalgia is a bigger part of my life now than at any other point in my life, the 1993 setting is a banger here. The film, when compared to contemporary Halloween films, is innocence at its core. The film has no agenda other than to make you feel that Halloween is the greatest night in America one night (or month in my case) a year.

Only half of my copies...sigh

Halloweentober usually begins every year the same for us around here, and that's with watching The Pocus. This year was the 30th anniversary *coff! (just shot coffee out of my nose and mouth) and I don't know how that happened. Like many of fans of this film, I spent most of my time watching this on Fox's 13 Nights of Halloween, and then ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween, and then Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween over the past several decades. Before becoming a collector, I didn't own a copy of HP because I knew it would be on every single day in Halloweentober.

The cast's portrayal of the Sanderson Sisters makes gives this film it's light-natured personality. They're goofy and cute, and their synchronized walk is hilarious. The Sanderson Sisters ride brooms, and by the 3rd act two of them have to suffer the indignation of riding a mop and a vacuum cleaner.

The film is set in Salem, Massachusetts. The city is featured well in the story, and the town has become the Halloween capital of the US. The city is covered in, unnatural or not, beautiful autumn colors of golden yellow and orange and red and leaves litter the cemetery and town roads. The Ropes Museum, or Alison's house, is dressed in Halloween decorations like bales of hay, cornstalks and jack-o-lanterns.

The Sanderson's house, though a set-piece, sits in the forest outside the town. It is gorgeously quaint with a water-wheel providing power to the house, and ivy crawling up the walls outside. Inside is a cozy dream of books and candles, and center stage sits a large cauldron. You could almost forgive the crude acts the sisters have performed in here... but no.

Max and Dani's house is, well, when my millions finally show up in my account, I will purchase this home. It is perfect.

Hocus Pocus has this genuine wholesomeness that came with the '90s, in my opinion. The witches, even as they kidnap kids and call upon the denizens of hell itself, appear affable in their personalities and fun even as they cast a spell on the town's inhabitants. I suppose this is only because you don't take this film too seriously. It's a quaint Halloween movie, after all. There's a talking cat and a walking mummy. For 96 minutes every October I watch this movie and sit in euphoria. The film makes me feel good and it is popcorn fun at its best. It is the perfect Halloween movie.

Jack-o'-lanterns in November!

Today most of America seems to have forgotten that the venerable jack-o'-lantern is not only an important symbol of Halloween, but also of Thanksgiving. As a kid this icon of Thanksgiving was a decoration you would see in people's yards throughout October and November; through most of autumn. Today you don't see it as much, with folks settling for simple uncarved pumpkins on the steps on the porch, or on bales of hay. I bring this up only because I'd like to see a return to the pumpkin-headed scarecrows staying around for more than one holiday. I'm keeping my jack-o'-lanterns out in the yard and on the porch until the day after Thanksgiving. It's time we keep the pumpkin-head scarecrow around all fall. This is a perfect way to repurpose your jacks into November, instead of letting them get tossed by some teenagers post-All Hollows Eve! However, there is something to be said for rotting jack-o'-lanterns after Halloween that just screams cool. Aging jacks ...

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