“Sarah has always been different. So as the new comer at St. Benedict’s Academy, she immediately falls in with high school outsiders. But there’s something different about her new friends, and it’s not just that they won’t settle for being a group of powerless misfits. They have discovered The Craft … and they are going to use it.” – Official Synopsis
The Craft is a campy horror film from the mid 90s that has been re-released on Blu-Ray. It focuses a lot on women’s empowerment and teenagers working through real problems.
The story itself is pretty good. It’s a coming of age story where these girls who face real problems turn to magic as a last resort. When they use it to damage other people, the repercussions come back to haunt them. The intensity in the story ramps up very well throughout the course of the film.
The writing is super campy. There are some really cheesy lines. If that’s your thing, you will love it.
Putting that aside, there are some very good character scenes. For example, in the “I drink of my sisters” scene, Robin Tunney’s character claims that she wants the power to make Skeet Ulrich’s character love her. At that point, Fairuza Banks’ character sharply looks at Tunney’s betraying her confusion and jealousy. This shot could be easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention.
The cinematography is good enough. I never noticed a bad shot, so that’s good. However, there weren’t any shots that really impressed me.
The sound was kind of odd sometimes. It felt like they had the microphone too close to the actors. The music choices were kind of odd also. It was definitely a 90s movie about goth kids practicing witchcraft.
The special effects were pretty good for the 90s. Listening to the special features they talked like it was one of the first features to use special effects in this way or at least with some of the more complicated shots. On a decidedly positive note, there were some shots made with green screen that honestly don’t look like it.
Speaking of the special features there are a host of new ones with this release. A production company conducted a series of interviews with the Director, Producer, Screenwriter, and Lead Special Effects as a retrospective all these years later. Comparing it to the original interviews released on DVD, it is interesting to see what opinions had changed over the years and what stayed the same.
One of them mentioned how surprising it was that it sold so well on DVD after its acceptable opening weekend. Presumably because they were all asked, they each lamented the R rating the MPAA gave the title. They chalked it up to the association to devil worship that witchcraft had, even though the film explicitly wasn’t about devil worship. Honestly, there isn’t enough offensive content to warrant an R rating in this film.
The most notable negative thing about the new interviews is that they have a loud transition with flashing lights between questions. I don’t know if this would affect anyone with epilepsy. Even if it doesn’t, it’s still annoying.
The older special features are interesting because they also contain interviews with the cast where they talk about their experience with the characters and auditioning for the roles. They also talk about their experiences acting on set.
All in all, it’s a pretty campy horror film for anyone who’s interested in it. If you already enjoy The Craft, the new features might be something enjoyable for you.
