For many of us, Hocus Pocus is the ultimate Halloween comfort movie. It does a wonderful job of including everything that’s fun about the holiday: colorful costumes, far too much candy, decorated homes, the charm of Salem in October, and of course, witches. But within the silly family film is a surprisingly dark story filled with plenty of details most of us don’t associate with kids’ movies. Here are a handful of things about Hocus Pocus that make the Halloween favorite much darker than it first appears.
The Sanderson Sisters Are Child-Consuming Witches
The movie is lighthearted and silly, so many viewers tend to gloss over the fact that the lovable witches aren’t just killing children; they’re consuming their life force too. The Sanderson sisters must steal the life force of children in order to become young again and live to see another day. Their famous “youth potion” isn’t a magical skin treatment; it enables them to drain the lives of innocent children. No, we don’t see the witches physically eat children, but they use several food-based references throughout the film. The witches talk about having a child “on toast” and call Dani a shish-ka-baby, a play on shish kebab. The way Mary repeatedly sniffs out children is reminiscent of a hungry predator tracking its next kill. The jokes absolutely reinforce the disturbing idea that they talk about children like food. Remarkably, the movie manages to turn a horrific concept into a family-friendly Halloween adventure.
The Witches Don’t Regret a Thing
When the Sanderson sisters are executed at the beginning of the film, they are not portrayed as misunderstood victims (as the real-life victims of the witch trials were). They openly admit to their crimes, threaten the townspeople, and perform a spell just moments before their punishment. Their return 300 years later isn’t about redemption, and their character arcs don’t include realizations that they have wronged people. They continue on with their old ways, yet somehow, we love them all the same.
Billy Butcherson’s Story Is Surprisingly Tragic
Billy Butcherson may be one of the movie’s funniest characters, but his backstory is actually quite dark. As Binx explains, Billy was Winifred’s boyfriend. But once she discovered he was fooling around with her sister Sarah, she poisoned him and sealed his mouth shut with a needle before burying him. Even by real-life domestic crime standards, this is pretty brutal.
The Sanderson Sisters Are Hanged on Camera
A movie that opens with three witches killing a child, before being executed themselves, doesn’t exactly scream lighthearted children’s film. But the opening scenes of Hocus Pocus are much darker than many viewers seem to remember. Before the movie becomes a colorful Halloween comedy, it begins with the Sanderson sisters being captured after murdering a little girl. They are then publicly hanged by the people of Salem. The scene doesn’t just imply their execution; audiences actually see the sisters bound, with nooses around their necks. Though we don’t see the full hanging, we do see their witchy little feet swaying in the air.
The Movie Mentions Satan More Than You Might Expect
For a family Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus is surprisingly comfortable fully leaning into classic witch stereotypes. The film draws from centuries of folklore where witches were portrayed as servants of demons and even Satan himself. This includes references to Satan. The sisters refer to him as their master and never hide the fact that they worship him. The references are played for comedy instead of horror, and the silly tone seems to make it all ok. Still, it’s difficult to imagine a children’s Disney movie coming out today that favorably mentions Satan multiple times.
We See an Animal Get Fatally Injured — Twice
For a movie filled with jokes, physical comedy, and goofy antics, Hocus Pocus has a surprisingly heartbreaking storyline involving Thackery Binx. Though he is actually a boy, he presents as a cat, and we see that cat get fatally hurt on screen. Twice. The first time occurs when Binx emerges from a storm drain and gets hit by a bus. His flattened, still body lies there for far too long as Dani cries over the death of her new feline friend. Then he pops back to life and reminds them he cannot die, due to the curse. At the end of the film, we watch as Winifred flings Binx against a stone, knocking him unconscious. Yet tucked in between fun musical numbers and goofy one-liners, no one seemed traumatized by these moments.