Set twenty-nine years after the original in present day, the Sanderson sisters, including Winifred (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy), and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) are back and causing havoc in Salem, Massachusetts.
Now, three young girls, Becca (Whitney Peak), Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo), must team with Gilbert (Sam Richardson), a magic store owner, and Winnie’s former lover, Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones) in order to stop the Sanderson Sisters from killing the Mayor of Salem (Tony Hale), who is also Cassie’s dad.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Sam Richardson and Doug Jones about their work on ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ Richardson’s love for the original, what it was like for Jones to reprise his role, working with the witches, the challenges of playing a headless character, and how Gilbert betrays his friends’ trust.
(L to R) Sam Richardson and Doug Jones star in Disney+’s ‘Hocus Pocus 2.’
Moviefone: To begin with, Sam, were you a fan of the original movie, and what was it like for you to share the screen with the Sanderson sisters?
Sam Richardson: I wouldn’t say that I was a fan of the original, I would say that I was an uberfan and a true obsessed maniac for this movie. So, to get to work with them as a fan, it was a constant struggle to make sure that I was acting and not just being myself talking to these ladies. But it was such a treat. Luckily, Gilbert is a fan, so to wear that layer, about half the work was done for me over the course of 30 years.
MF: Doug, can you talk about returning to the franchise and reprising your role as Billy Butcherson, and what are the challenges physically of playing a headless character?
Doug Jones: Well, returning to the franchise was something I had hoped for but never thought possible. You never know. But as the fandom grew over the years to a point now where it is a part of everyone’s Halloween, our original fans have kids of their own that are now fans of the movie. So, it’s just grown and grown and grown, and because of that, and petitions online, they’re like, “We need a sequel.” Thank heaven for the fans that made this sequel happen.
And being headless is a part of the deal for Billy Butcherson, unfortunately. He’s strung together with dust, he can’t help himself and he’s been dead for 300 years. I’m surprised he’s even walking. So, you’ll see more things come apart on Billy in the sequel. It won’t let you down.
MF: Finally, Sam, can you talk about Gilbert’s friendship with Becca, Cassie, and Izzy, and how he betrays their trust?
SR: Gilbert owns the magic shop, which is the witches’ original home. Gilbert’s magic shop is the place where the girls frequent, and he’s sort of a mentor to them in the magical arts and such. So, he’s a person that they trust, but then Gilbert surreptitiously uses their love of magic to bring these witches back. That betrayal is something he immediately regrets, seeing what he’s wrought upon the world, but also, he’s trying to fix this thing and sort apologize to the girls, and then to apologize to Billy.
DJ: He betrayed me, too. Let’s be honest.
SR: He’s in over his head, no pun intended. He’s just always at the back on his heels from the start of the movie on. It was a fun thing to play with in this movie.
Releasing on Disney+ September 30th, ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ is aiming to work on several fronts: as a sequel to Disney’s 1993 fantasy comedy and as a family-friendly entry in a Halloween movie marathon.
It is admirably successful in both efforts.
The original ‘Hocus Pocus’, directed by Kenny Ortega, spun the yarn of the Sanderson sisters – Bette Midler’s sarcastic Winifred, Kathy Najimy’s goofy Mary and Sarah Jessica Parker’s ditzy Sarah – who, legend tells, were hung in the town of Salem as witches. Swearing that they will return for retribution, they cast a curse upon Salem.
Accidentally resurrected through use of a black flame candle, they end up causing fresh chaos in the town for one night in 1993 before the coming sunrise banishes them once more.
That film wasn’t exactly beloved by critics and didn’t cast that much of a spell at the box office. Yet despite that, it has grown into a cult favorite in the years since, regularly finding a slot on Halloween re-watches largely because it’s the sort of supernatural fantasy that works, boosted by the playing-to-the-back-of-the-theater gusto of Midler in particular.
With Anne Fletcher in the director’s chair this time around, the story is set in the present day, when Salem still goes big for Halloween, and the legend of the Sanderson sisters lingers on through costumes and magic shop owner Gilbert (Sam Richardson), who loves to tell their story on the small makeshift stage in his store.
Yet the initial focus is on teens Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo), who are planning their annual ritual for the former’s birthday. Normally involving a movie marathon and “witchy stuff” (according to a mocking classmate) their celebrations are muted by cooling relations with the third member of their friendship trio, Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), who nabbed herself a cool boyfriend and seems less interested in hanging with her old pals.
When Gilbert gifts Becca a black flame candle, she and Izzy head to the local woods to light it and enact their usual ceremony – but you can guess what happens. With the Sandersons back in town (and determined not to be undone by pesky teenagers or sunlight this time around), their plan is to gather the items they need to cast a powerful spell that will grant them ultimate witchy power.
Becca and Izzy, then, must try to stop them, with an assist from Billy Butcherson (a returning Doug Jones), the zombified remains of Winifred’s one true love, though he argues they shared “but one kiss”.
And before any of this happens, there is a charming prologue set in 1653 featuring younger versions of the Sandersons (Taylor Henderson, Nina Kitchen and Juju Journey Brener) first embracing their supernatural destiny with the help of a scene-stealing Hannah Waddingham (best known for playing Rebecca Welton on ‘Ted Lasso’), who is honestly so entertaining in her brief role that you almost wish the screenplay had found some way for her to appear more.
Yet the big selling point remains Midler and co. camping it up as the witchy trio, clearly having a blast returning to their roles. The script by Jen D’Angelo gives them plenty to get their teeth into (a plus when you consider the choppers on Winifred), keeping the characters in line with how people remember them but given them new things to do.
Whether it’s finding new things to use as brooms to fly upon (Sarah grabs a Swiffer WetJet, Mary a pair of misbehaving Roombas) or figuring that an Alexa is really a women trapped in a box), they’re a constant, campy delight, infecting the rest of the cast with that sense of wacky joy.
Peak and Escobedo are likeable, down-to-earth leads who play well off the bigger performances of the witches as they desperately try to fix the havoc that has been caused.
Amusing set-pieces such as an early one set in a Walgreens (where Becca and Izzy try to convince the trio that they don’t need to consume young souls to stay youthful, because make-up products in modern-day America are bursting with the essence of babies) and one at the local Halloween carnival (with the sisters once again given a chance to sing).
Most smartly, the film has assembled a top-notch comedy cast to support the stars – Richardson is a lively and funny Gilbert while Tony Hale throws himself into the dual role of the witch-hunting Reverend Traske (in the prologue) and his descendent, the fun-loving Mayor Traske (who naturally factors into the Sandersons’ plan in the present day).
Jones, meanwhile, gets to wheel out his faux British accent as Billy, this time handed more of a backstory and allowed plenty of space for the actor’s spot-on physical comedy chops.
It’s another fairly straight-forward story, of course, but underpinned by a healthy emotional arc for Midler, particularly near the end as the true consequences of her achieving ultimate power are revealed.
Effects-wise, it was never going to challenge big screen efforts in terms of quality, but that just adds to the kitsch value and helps make the movie feel more of a piece with the original.
This is the refreshing legacy sequel that doesn’t try to remake the original and, while it naturally goes down a similar route, finds enough fresh magic to sprinkle across the story. Fans of the first film will enjoy the callbacks (which are used sparingly and well) and those who’ve never seen that movie can enjoy this one without needing to have caught up.
‘Hocus Pocus 2’ is cheesy, silly and straightforwardly funny in a way that both honors and, at times, bests the original.
‘Hocus Pocus 2’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.
(L to R) Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler, and Sarah Jessica Parker in ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ which will cast a spell on Disney+ on September 30th.
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