Review of The Craft (1996) by Anastasia F — 09 Jul 2011

I haven't been to the movies in an age, not since I saw Insidious earlier this year. I've been busy but just as important there hasn't really been anything I've wanted to see. So, as my Flixster badge on my blog is showing empty (Doh! There are currently no reviews to show) I thought I would go over some of my old favourites from the past.

I begin with The Craft, a movie which I saw when I was twelve, one which had a huge impact on me, a girl on the threshold of her teenage years, already demonstrating a heightened sense of anxiety. I know, looking back, looking from the perspective of an adult woman, that it's not a great movie but for me it is a significant movie, one that spoke to me personally. Some of the most significant movies are not necessarily the greatest.

Directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell and Rachel True it's the story of four girls, four outsiders, at a school in Los Angeles who form a coven of witches. They discover the Craft; they discover the empowerment the Craft brings. That which was outside is now inside; that which was weak is now strong, strong in sisterhood, strong in magic.

Sarah (Robin Tunney) is originally the outsider among the outsiders, but the other girls, Nancy (Balk), Bonnie (Campbell) and Rochelle (True), who have already been experimenting with the occult, notice that she has a natural power and so invite her to form a fourth in their magic circle. It's then that things really begin to happen, the spells working, all that is wrong with their individual lives being set right.

But with power comes responsibility, except in the case of Nancy: for her power came with a thirst for even greater power. She - the bad witch - was the one I was most attracted to. Oh, how I wanted their experiments in magic to be taken to ever greater heights but the solidarity of the group is broken by Sarah, the good witch of the north as Bonnie is the wicked of the west!

The Craft is a black comedy, a great-fun teen movie, a more down to earth vision of Heathers. I loved it for the simple magic it brought to my life. I still love it for the abiding interest it gave me in witchcraft. Sarah is my light side by but Nancy is most definitely my dark. These are the poles I move between. :-).