Hocus Pocus

• Disney film set in Salem. Starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters.
• Original release date was 1993. It was directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Mick Garris and Niel Cuthbert. It received mixed reviews but did well at the box office.
• Plot Synopsis:"In the year 1693, sisters, Winifred, Mary and Sarah were executed for their 'unforgiveble witchecraft'. They captured and sucked the life out of children. Just before their execution, Winifred made a curse - a curse that when a virgin lights the black flame candle on Halloween light, in their house, they shall return ... 1993, 300 years later, Max decides to light the candle in order to scare his irritating sister Dani and his wannabe girlfriend Alison. Now, the three Witches are back ready for a night of fun, magic and horror in the now modern area of Salem."
• Salem filming locations include: Salem Common, Pioneer Village, Forest River Park, Old Town Hall, Ropes Mansion and Phillips School(now condos). They filmed at a seaside cemetery and Old Burial Hill in Marblehead as well.
• Scenes were also shot at a home on Ocean Ave., used as Max and Dani's house.

• Hocus Pocus Sequel. On its 25th Anniversary Hocus Pocus got a reboot, in both book and streaming TV.

The summary of the book, called "Hocus Pocus & the all-new sequel" is such: This two-part young adult novel, released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1993 film, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus. Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens. Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Massachusetts, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches, the Sanderson sisters, from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on earth to torment Salem for all eternity. Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison's seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest death-defying scheme. An all new cast is used for the sequel.

• Hocus Pocus 2" was released on Sept. 30th 2022. The three main actors returned for this reprisal. Disney filmed much of it in Rhode Island.

See Also

• Cinema Salem: a cinematic guide to the Witch City by Peter Mac, Chapt. 3.
• Life at Cloverhill blog with info on Salem sites used in the movie
• Focus of Hocus Pocus, The Salem Evening News, July 17, 1993. staff article
• Film Review of Hocus Pocus, New York Times, July 16, 1993, p. C16
• Vertical File in Salem Collection - Movies made in Massachusetts