Well then horror fans yesterday you all saw me take on the sequel and so it only makes sense that today I take on the original. Before you all say anything yes I did plan to do it this way just because firstly I wanted to see if the second film would come up on ahem certain websites if you get my drift and secondly I wanted to watch the bad film first since then this film will seem better by comparison and so here is my review of the 1996 film "The Craft" enjoy.
Well this film really isn't of to a good start because like the second film this film doesn't have a story to speak of. Which means that you can't really connect with the characters because the film isn't giving you a reason to. However unlike the sequel this film does give each of the four main characters there own separate story arcs which I guess kind of makes up for the overall film not having a story but at the same time the film would have been alot better if it did have a plot or story.
Starring in the film is Robin Tunney as Sarah Bailey , Fairuza Balk as Nancy Downs and future star of the Scream franchise Neve Campbell as Bonnie Harper. Also starring in the film is Rachel True as Rochelle Zimmerman , future of the first Scream film Skeet Ulrich as Chris Hooker , Cliff DeYoung as Mr. Bailey , Christine Taylor as Laura Lizzie , future star of the greatest movie ever Garfield Breckin Meyer as Mitt , Nathaniel Marston as Trey and Helen Shaver as Grace Downs.
I will give the acting this it's alot better then the acting in the sequel but to be fair that's not a high bar to reach. However just b3ecause the acting in this film is better then the acting in the sequel it doesn't mean that the acting in this film is actually good because it's not however the four main actresses in this film are so clearly having a blast that you kind of buy into there performances anyway regardless of the script not giving any of the actors anything to work with in terms of personality or actual characteristics or character.
Even tho this film doesn't have that many good reviews in fact it currently sits at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has gone in to become a cult classic earning a die hard fan base which I feel is a good thing because there is so much good to be found in this film if you just except it for what it is which is a cheesy as hell film that just embraces and surrounds itself in everything to do with the nineties.
This film is like taking a trip back in time to the nineties just because every little thing in this film are things that you would see in nineties films. Speaking as someone who grew up in the nineties ( I really do mean it when I say I grew up in the nineties since I was born in 1990) it was weird to see all of things from that era in this film everything from the fashion to the choice of actors to the choice of music just screams nineties and I love it because of that fact.
Unlike the sequel this film actually has a well built up villain and because of that it isn't surprising when this character turns evil. This is great story and simple story telling because over the course of the film we see this character turn from a straight forward good guy to someone who could be both good or evil to finally someone who is without a shadow of a doubt evil this is simple and yet effective story telling and it works really well in my opinion.
1996 really was a good year for Neve Campbell because not only did she star as Bonnie in this film but by the end of the year she would be starring as Sidney Prescott in the very first Scream film which as mentioned also starred The Craft co-star Skeet Ulrich. Which I have to admit made there scenes together n this film hard to sit through because even tho they are both really good in this film I could only see them as Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich who was also on The CW show Riverdale by the way) respectively.
I know that this is going to sound odd but this film is actually alot more subtle with how it deals with social issues that The Craft: Legacy is. Simply because in this film they have a who;e character arc about one of the main girls who is black getting racist abuse from a white woman and they don't hit you over the head with how woke there trying to be and guess what this makes the black female main character more tolerable to watch and it makes the film more tolerable to watch as well.
This film is one hour and forty minuets and fifty nine seconds long so let's round that up to one hour and forty one minuets long. I do feel that this is a bit long for this film just because like I said at the start of the review the film has no plot to speak of which can make the film a bit of a chore to sit through at times as such I really do feel that this film should have been a lot shorter like maybe an hour and twenty five minuets just because there's nothing in this film that requires a running time that's longer then an hour and a half but that's just what I think tho.
I hate to keep on saying but unlike the sequel this film actually does deliver on it's thriller aspect just as much as it does it's supernatural aspect. I'm not kidding there are honestly some really creepy as hell scenes in this film and alot of those scenes looks so freaking cool I honestly cannot think of what I would say is the best creepy scene in this film because there are so many which could very easily get that award for me.
Overall to say that i think this film is better then The Craft: Legacy would be like saying original TV show Saved By The Bell was corny and cheesy and doesn't represent was high school is actually like no duh. That being said however this film does have it's problems which do sadly keep it from being a perfect ten out of ten however the film is still pretty entertaining despite those faults and in some cases it's entertaining because of those faults as such this film gets a 5.5 out of 10 from me and with that i've reviewed both movies in The Craft I guess you could say either series or franchise and the next horror film you'll see me review will be the fourth film in the Halloween franchise Halloween 4: The Return Of Micheal Myers which with any luck will be out this Saturday so it'll be out actually on Halloween so look for to that.
All images and gif's that I used in this review were gathered from Google Images and for once I went nowhere else for the images or gifs that I used in this review. Since I only went to Google Images for both the images and gifs that I used in this review I have to no choice but to recommend that you use Google Images if you want images from this film. As always horror fans we end this review as we always do with our one true goddess Elvira wishing us all some very unpleasant dreams.
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