It’s a rare thing for one to sit down to watch a movie expecting to hate it, but by the time the film ends a person can’t help but admit they enjoy it.

“Hocus Pocus” (1993, directed by Kenny Ortega), is one of those rare films.

The film is about three witch sisters from 1693 named Winifred (played by Bett Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary Sanderson (Kathy Najimy) accidentally being brought back to life 300 years later on one Halloween night by a kid named Max (Omri Katz). In order to stay alive the three sisters need to feast on the souls of young children, deciding to feed on Max’s younger sister, Dani (Thora Birch).

The best part of the film, hands down, is the Sanderson sisters. They steal any scene they’re in. All three actresses are clearly having the time of their lives in the roles, with how over-the-top and hammy they are.

It also helps that the sisters tend to get themselves into some funny situations. Like when they get their brooms stolen, so when they look back in their old broom closet they only find one broom, forcing two of the sisters to use a mop and vacuum cleaner.

Though not as entertaining as Sanderson sisters, the child actors actually do a pretty good job with the material they’re given, even getting a few laughs.

The make-up and practical effects are also well done, not on the level as “The Thing”, but still, pretty good.

Though the film is a fun watch it still has flaws.

The movie has its fair share of 90’s Disney corniness, and whenever it shows up it makes the movie hard to watch. A very good example is the sterile typical Disney bullies that are so over the top, that in real life they’d be the ones being bullied.

As mentioned earlier the practical effects and make up have aged pretty well, the same can not be said of the CGI, which looks very fake. For example there’s a talking cat in the film named Thackery Binx (Sean Murray) who was the brother of one of the witch’s victims and caused them to be caught. As a curse they turned him into a cat and made him immortal, and whenever he talks they use CGI cat lips and it never looks right.

The plot, while fun, can not be seriously thought about or it falls apart. For instance the sisters’ whole goal is that they need to feed on the souls of children in order to make themselves young, but they cursed Binx with immortality so why even feast on the souls of children if you can make people, including yourself, immortal? Why waste the perfectly good children?

Also if Binx could talk the whole time why didn’t he try to stop the kids before they accidentally summon the witches?

Despite having so much cheese that people with lactose intolerance should avoid it, “Hocus Pocus” is still a fun watch. We’ll see if this sentiment holds true in the sequel next week.