Hocus Pocus 1993

In the quaint town of 1693, a desperate Thackery Binx finds himself racing against time to rescue his innocent sister, Emily, from the clutches of a wicked sorceress. As panic sets in, he implores his friend Elijah to hasten back to the village and sound the alarm, while Thackery himself embarks on a perilous quest to track down Emily’s captors. His journey ultimately leads him to the foreboding abode of the Sanderson sisters, where he unwittingly stumbles upon the trio - Winifred (Midler), Mary, and Sarah (Najimy and Parker) - concocting a mysterious potion in their cauldron. The eldest sister, Winifred, reveals that this very elixir holds the power to rejuvenate their withered bodies, should it be consumed by an unsuspecting child.

As Thackery attempts to thwart the witches’ nefarious plans, he finds himself pitted against Winnie in a fierce and frenzied struggle. Despite his valiant efforts, he is ultimately bested, and the sisters succeed in draining Emily’s life force, restoring their youthful vitality in the process. Enraged by Thackery’s failure to protect his sister, the Sandersons unleash a dark curse upon him, transforming him into a black cat doomed to roam the earth for eternity.

As the villagers, armed with torches, prepare to mete out justice to the wicked trio, Thackery’s father demands that Winifred disclose her son’s whereabouts. However, she remains defiant, refusing to yield the information. A prophetic revelation contained within Winnie’s spellbook foretells a dire consequence: should a virgin light the fateful black flame candle on All Hallows’ Eve, the Sanderson sisters would be resurrected. The witches are subsequently hanged, and Thackery, now a feline, rubs against his father’s leg in desperation, only to be callously rebuffed by the unaware patriarch.

As Halloween draws near in Salem, a teacher regales her students with tales of the notorious Sanderson sisters. Max Dennison, a skeptical newcomer from California, finds himself at odds with the notion of supernatural occurrences. Meanwhile, he attempts to connect with classmate Alison, whose charm and beauty have piqued his interest. As the school year winds down for Halloween break, Max’s frustrations mount, fueled by the theft of his sneakers by two mischievous teenagers, Ice and Jay. His mood only worsens when he returns home to find his little sister Dani demanding to go trick-or-treating that night.

Initially resistant to the idea, Max is eventually coerced into taking Dani door-to-door in search of candy. However, their evening takes a turn for the worse when they encounter Ice and Jay, who are eager to reclaim their pilfered sweets. The confrontation culminates with Dani storming off, leaving Max to pursue her and make amends. It is here that the trio stumbles upon Alison’s family mansion, now a dilapidated museum dedicated to the enigmatic Sanderson sisters.

As they prepare to infiltrate the abandoned building, Dani’s trepidation grows, sensing the gravity of their Halloween prank. Undeterred, Max and his friends decide to take matters into their own hands, ultimately lighting the infamous black flame candle in an attempt to impress Alison. The consequences are swift and unforeseen: a series of inexplicable events unfolds at the Sanderson house, culminating in the return of the long-absent sisters.

As the three friends hide from the witches’ wrath, Dani takes credit for igniting the candle, prompting Max and Alison to launch a counterattack against the sorceresses. In a clever ploy, Max activates the modern sprinkler system, convincing the Sanderson sisters that it is a malevolent force designed to destroy them. This ruse allows him to pilfer the spellbook and encounter Thackery Binx, an immortal feline with the remarkable ability to converse.

Seeking refuge on hallowed ground, Max, Alison, and Dani follow Thackery into a nearby cemetery, where they stumble upon the graves of Billy Butcherson and his sister. As the truth begins to unfold, they realize that Thackery is, in fact, Binx, and that the legends surrounding the Sanderson sisters and their victims are all too real.

As the Sanderson sisters’ scheme begins to unravel, they concoct a plan to siphon the vitality from unsuspecting children, desperate to sustain their own eternal youth. Their ruse, however, is foiled by the theft of the ancient tome, and they must track down Max (actor name), the cunning young thief, who has vanished into the unfamiliar world of the early 1990s. Disoriented and perplexed by the modern era’s bewildering customs, the witches set their sights on Max and his companions, pursuing them to a cemetery where they are powerless to tread upon sacred ground.

Undeterred, Winnie resorts to resurrecting Billy Butcherson (actor name), now a decrepit zombie, to track down the trio. The children, meanwhile, take refuge in an underground sewer system, navigating its treacherous tunnels while the witches, their broomsticks commandeered by mischievous trick-or-treaters, board a bus bound for Halloween-themed suburbia.

Binx, ever resourceful, discovers a hidden escape route from the sewers and emerges onto the streets, only to be struck down by the departing bus carrying the Sanderson sisters. Yet, as an immortal, he is able to recover his vitality and rejoin Max, Alison (actor name), Dani, and the others in their quest.

As the witches arrive at city hall, a hubbub of revelry and celebration, they seek to reunite with the children. However, Max’s parents remain skeptical, and it falls to Max to reveal the truth about the resurrected Sandersons on stage before a captivated audience. But Winnie is not one to be outdone; she transforms the party atmosphere by bursting into song and dance, casting an insidious spell that compels the revelers to dance themselves to exhaustion.

As the city hall party dissolves, Max and his companions seek refuge behind a restaurant alley, cleverly evading the prying eyes of the Sanderson sisters. It is amidst the shadows that Alison’s sharp wit is piqued by an old oven, sparking an ingenious plan to outsmart their foes. With newfound determination, they make a beeline for their high school, a familiar haunt where they hope to find solace and devise a strategy to foil the witches’ nefarious plans.

Meanwhile, Mary has unwittingly led the sisters straight into the school’s corridors, her keen sense of smell following the scent of her quarry. The trio of witches, oblivious to the true nature of their surroundings, embark on a wild goose chase through the empty hallways, their ears tantalized by the faint hum of a tape recorder. It is here that Alison and Dani seize the initiative, expertly manipulating the situation to lead the sisters into a precarious predicament.

As the witches succumb to the furnace’s fiery embrace, Max and Dani breathe a sigh of relief, convinced that their troubles are finally behind them. But little do they know that Winnie, Mary, and Sarah have not only survived the ordeal but have also been restored to their natural forms. The sisters’ desperation deepens as they realize the children possess the spell book and have no recollection of the eternal youth potion’s incantation.

As time runs out, the witches embark on a perilous journey, seeking to reclaim the book and restore their lost powers. Their path crosses that of Ice and Jay, who, with tongues laced with sarcasm, heap ridicule upon the sisters’ plight. The witches, however, refuse to be deterred, capturing the boys and imprisoning them in cages at their home.

At the Dennison household, Alison and Max awaken from their slumber, their sympathies stirred by Binx’s feline form. As they delve into the spell book, hoping to reverse his transformation, it emits a mysterious signal that eludes their comprehension. Unbeknownst to them, this signal is detected across town, prompting the Sanderson sisters to converge on the cleaning closet in search of new brooms.

Winnie, with her eyes aglow, takes flight on a house broom, while Mary and Sarah ride a vacuum cleaner and mop, respectively. Their destination: the suburbs, where they intend to retrieve the fabled spell book. Meanwhile, Max and Alison are caught off guard by Binx’s sudden intervention, his paws slamming shut the tome that holds the secrets of their fate.

As Alison’s instincts grow increasingly unsettled, she and Max take matters into their own hands by hastily gathering salt from the kitchen, a makeshift safeguard against the looming threat of witchcraft. The couple’s brief, intimate moment is abruptly disrupted by an unsettling cacophony of sounds emanating from upstairs, prompting them to investigate the source. Upon entering Dani’s bedroom, Alison is met with a startling discovery: Sarah lies serenely in her bed, while Max reveals the absence of Dani. Their tranquility is short-lived, however, as Mary and Winifred emerge from the closet, holding Dani captive and clutching the sacred tome. In a desperate bid to protect herself, Alison hastily creates a protective barrier of salt around herself. The trio of witches then takes to the skies with their hostage, intent on utilizing Dani as their inaugural human sacrifice. In response, Max and Alison join forces with Binx to launch a daring rescue mission to reclaim their friend.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s ethereal voice wends its way through the air, conjuring forth the children of Salem in a mystical summons to gather at the Sanderson residence, seeking to harness their collective vitality as a means of augmenting their own. As the witchy trio returns to their homestead, Winnie busies herself perfecting a potent elixir within their cauldron, while Dani sits bound and helpless in a nearby chair.

As the fateful dawn breaks over the Sanderson house, Max intervenes just in time to rescue Dani from the clutches of the potion, sending the cauldron crashing to the ground and shattering the sisters’ morning ritual. The witches, however, are cunning and quick to recover, their eyes fixed on the approaching children as they plot a new course of dark magic. Winnie’s fixation on claiming Dani’s soul takes precedence over her hunger for the youngsters, her malevolent gaze burning with an intense desire to exact revenge on the girl who had dared to call her “ugly”. With the potion still potent but perilously scarce, the sisters take flight, their brooms swooping through the cemetery gates as they pursue the children and Dani’s newfound friends. The trio, Max, Alison, and Dani, accompanied by the loyal and undead Binx, find temporary solace in hallowed ground, a sanctuary from which the Sandersons are forbidden to tread.

As the sun rises higher in the sky, Winnie seizes her chance to capture Dani and force her to drink the potion, but Billy, the reanimated corpse, joins the fray, his decaying form driven by a shared hatred for the wicked witch. The sisters launch a vicious assault from all angles, their wands flashing with dark energy as they seek to claim Dani’s soul. Winnie strikes down Billy, and in her triumph, she captures Dani, holding the girl hostage as she prepares to deliver the final blow.

In a desperate bid to save his sister, Max attempts to reason with Winnie, but the witch refuses to yield, threatening to kill Dani if he does not release her from his grasp. The standoff is interrupted by an unexpected turn of events when Binx leaps into action, snatching the potion from Winnie’s hand and sending it flying towards Max.

As the two brothers lock eyes in a silent understanding, Max makes a shocking decision: he drinks the potion himself, effectively sacrificing his own life to save Dani. Winnie, realizing too late her mistake, becomes obsessed with sucking the life force out of Max as she clings to him, her fingers digging deep into his flesh.

The sun continues its ascent, casting a golden glow over the cemetery as Winnie finds herself trapped between the hallowed ground and the rising dawn. Slowly but inexorably, she begins to petrify, her body turning to stone as the curse of the Sandersons is finally broken.

As the dust settles, Dani and Max are reunited, their bond strengthened by the sacrifice that has been made. In a poignant moment, Dani’s tears flow for Binx, whose spirit has departed, but Thackery’s ethereal form appears to console her, revealing that the curse has been lifted and his beloved Emily is finally free.

As the surviving spirits of the Sanderson sisters vanish into thin air, Max, Dani, and Alison stand victorious, their bravery having vanquished the evil forces that had threatened their lives. With a radiant smile on her face, Dani watches as Thackery and Emily walk hand in hand through the cemetery gates, their reunion a testament to the power of love and redemption.

As the pulsating energy of the city hall celebration begins to wane, Max’s (actor name) parents - along with the other revelers - stumble out into the cool night air, their exhaustion palpable as they bid farewell to the merriment. Meanwhile, at the Sanderson homestead, Ice and Jay remain suspended in mid-air, their voices blending in harmony as they croon a haunting rendition of “Row, row, row your boat”. The eerie atmosphere is punctuated only by the faint glint of magic emanating from the ancient tome that lies before them. As the credits roll into view, the spellbook’s cover creaks open, its pages rustling with an otherworldly energy - a harbinger of the mystical forces that are about to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting world.