ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 17, 1993                   TAG: 9307170034
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: C12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WITCHES RUN AMOK IN 'HOCUS POCUS'

"Hocus Pocus" is a curious little horror comedy. Since the film comes from the Disney studio, many parents may assume that it's meant for kids, but it's really too dark and too slow for very young viewers.

Apparently, the filmmakers were trying to capture the mix of gentle humor and strong visual style that made "Beetlejuice" a hit. But director Kenny Ortega doesn't have Tim Burton's natural affinity for offbeat material, and he let his three leading ladies run amok in an overacting contest.

The Sanderson sisters - Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) - are practicing witches in 17th-century Salem. In the opening scene, they kill one child and turn another into a cat before the townspeople do away with them. Of course, they promise to come back.

Three hundred years later, Max (Omri Katz) and his little sister Dani (Thora Birch) move to Salem from California. Max hates the place, but he is taken by his pretty classmate Allison (Vinessa Shaw). On Halloween night, she tells him the legend of the Sanderson sisters; he suggests that the three of them go visit the old Sanderson place, and you can take it from there.

Though the three sisters look fairly grotesque, the most frightening thing about them is ferocity with which they attack their roles, the scenery, each other, their co-stars. Nothing and no one is safe when this trio shifts into overdrive. To be fair, they have their moments, particularly when they wander around Salem on Halloween night and are introduced to the wonders of the late 20th century. In the party scene, they combine for a nice, but too-short version of "I Put a Spell on You."

As the three young heroes who can't get any grown-ups to believe what's happening, Katz, Birch and Shaw carry their side of the action well enough to keep a middle-school-aged audience interested. But viewers of any age will probably lose patience with the silly story by David Kirschner and Mick Garris. The special effects, always important in this kind of movie, are neither very good nor very bad. The only one that's at all unique is a talking black cat.

This is an unusually competitive season for youth-oriented movies. With a solid baseball fantasy, a photogenic killer whale and the ever-popular "Snow White" all angling for the same audience, "Hocus Pocus" may not make the cut.

\ Hocus Pocus: **

A Walt Disney release playing at the Valley View Mall 6. 94 min. Rated PG for subject matter, tone, some violence. 


 by CNB