Three hundred years after they were sentenced to die in Salem, a trio of witches return to gain their revenge. Terrorising the town's trick-or-treaters on Halloween, riding on vacuum cleaners instead of broomsticks, the only thing that can stop them is a black cat - in fact a boy who was turned into feline form on the day of the witches' original execution. This big, fat theatrical bomb has a lot going for it. There's the three leads, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker, playing three resurrected witches who wreak havoc on Salem, Massachusetts, 300 hundred years after they were hung. There's music, special effects, and magic. There's a surprisingly horror-filled plot. Whoops, hold up on that last one. It's probably the extremes that this film goes to (displaying a Disney label), such as the witches sucking the life out of a little girl in the first five minutes, that put the brakes on any success for Hocus Pocus. Older children, however, in the 8 and up range should get a kick out of all the weird goings-on. It's a good measure of Halloween thrills and chills. --Keith Simanton