Hocus Pocus: 5 Times The Sanderson Sisters Were The Coolest (& 5 Times They Went Too Far)

Hocus Pocus is a classic movie from 1993. It follows the journey of three witches, the Sanderson sisters, who come back to life. Their goal is to find more children to steal their life force. The movie is hilarious, campy, and very fun. It has become the most popular Halloween movie by far.

During October, you can find the movie playing almost every single day. We’re taking a look at some of the Sanderson sisters’ coolest moments and the times they went a little too far. They are evil witches, after all!

10 Coolest: Trapping the school bullies in cages.

We’re not saying the Sanderson sisters were right to kidnap children and attempt to eat them or absorb their youth, but we also didn’t exactly feel that bad when they snatched Jay and Ice.

The two bullies targeted Max at the beginning of the movie and then stole candy from neighborhood kids. They call the witches ugly which gets them shoved into large cages. By the end of the movie, they’re still stuck! We never find out if they get rescued.

9 Too Far: They kill a little girl.

The beginning of the movie has a pretty dark introduction for a Disney movie. We meet the Sanderson sisters in their real form, stooped, greying, older women. The witches have kidnapped a young girl named Emily.

They attempt to feed her a potion to make her susceptible to stealing her life force. Emily’s brother, Thackery Binx, tries to rescue her, but it’s too late. Emily winds up dying and the witches’ youth is restored.

8 Coolest: When they try to work out the 21st century.

During one scene in the movie, the Sanderson sisters have to take a bus to get to their destination. Every moment in the movie where the Sandersons have to interact with someone completely modern is hilarious. They all share some mild flirtations with the bus driver, particularly Sarah, and then finally hop on board.

But this is one of many instances where we get to see the Sandersons trying to understand modernities and technology. Another great instance is when they follow a man dressed as the Devil into his home, thinking he’s the real deal.

7 Too Far: Cursing Binx into a cat forever.

When Binx tries to prevent the Sandersons from killing his younger sister, Emily, he is met with a fate worse than death. Binx is transformed into a black cat and doomed to live forever.

The idea is that people don’t like black cats, especially during Halloween, so Binx could wind up never finding a home. Luckily for Binx, he meets Max later on and they all work together to take down the Sanderson sisters once and for all.

6 Coolest: The sisters perform “I Put a Spell On You.”

One of the most infamous scenes in the movie is when the Sanderson sisters perform the iconic song “I Put a Spell On You,” at an adult Halloween party. Not only do they perform a showstopper, but they also get the chance to cast a real spell on the adults to keep them dancing all night.

While distracted, the sisters then move on to target the children. It’s one of the most entertaining scenes in the movie, even if it does have darker implications. Plus, who doesn’t want to watch the lead actresses, such as talented performer Bette Midler, sing and dance?

5 Too Far: They constantly talk about eating, torturing, and playing with children.

At the end of the day, no matter how entertaining the Sanderson sisters are, it’s important to remember their real motives are extremely dark and twisted. They frequently talk about wanting to torture children and the people who get in their way.

One exchange even has them talking about putting one of their victims on a meat hook and playing with them. It sounds like the Sanderson sisters have taken a page out of Leatherface’s book.

4 Coolest: Improvising broomsticks.

What do you do when you’re missing your trusty flying broomsticks? You improvise of course. At one point in the movie, Mary, Winnifred, and Sarah are trying to find a method of travel to track down Max and get the spellbook back. In order to do so, they use household items.

One grabs a broom, one grabs a mop, and one even grabs a vacuum cleaner! Desperate times call for desperate measures. Imagine looking into the sky and seeing someone flying a vacuum.

3 Too Far: Sarah uses her Siren song to lure children to their demise.

Like we mentioned before, the Sandersons have a nefarious reason for coming back to life and returning to the world. They want to maintain their youth and create immortal life. The sisters want to kidnap more children and use them as a way to ensure they stay young forever.

Sarah is known as the more flirtatious witch and she also has the gift of a Siren song. She uses her gift to sing a haunting melody in the skies and lures all the children in town to the Sanderson cottage so they can kill them all and absorb their life force.

2 Coolest: The opening sequence when the witches become young.

Even though the opening sequence contains a moment of the witch’s going way too far by killing Emily, the aftermath where they become young is one of the best parts of the movie. All three witches rejoice at their appearances and they have a good time goofing off together in the cottage.

Plus then we get to see Binx fight back against them such as when he tries to trick them into believing the water falling will make them melt. It’s a great introduction to the characters, displaying their sinister nature and silliness.

1 Too Far: Winnifred’s treatment of Billy.

Billy Butcherson was an ex-lover of Winnifred’s who ultimately became unfaithful to her. As a punishment she killed him.

But she does reanimate him at one point in the film to make him fight alongside the witches. That backfires and Billy helps Max instead. However, it shows how cruel Winnifred was as she sews his mouth shut.

About The Author

Madison Lennon
(211 Articles Published)

Horror Junkie. Blogger. Fiction Writer. The main things I care about in life can be found on a screen, film, television, video games, add horror into the mix and I’m in love. I write for several online sites and am currently working full-time as a freelance entertainment writer!

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