Customer Reviews

The Craft

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney) is the new kid in town, but even under the best of circumstances she has never been accepted by the popular crowd. At her new school, she falls in with a trio of other female misfits (Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True) who, it so happens, are trying to learn witchcraft and form their own little coven. When Sarah joins them to make it a quartet, they slowly develop multifold preternatural powers and learn how to focus and use them. With such abilities literally at their fingertips, it's not too long until the little coven, initially formed for self-protection and companionship, becomes an instrument for personal gain and revenge. Sarah soon realizes that one of her friends is evil to the core, and fearful of what THAT one may do with the group's newfound powers, she decides it's best to resign from the coven and thereby weaken the magic abilities of the others. But the coven has different plans, particularly regarding Sarah....

The sleeper hit THE CRAFT (1996) could've easily been played for camp, but it is instead a story of modern urban witchcraft that is both literate and emotionally powerful. The success of the film is due to Peter Filardi and Andrew Fleming's tight, well-written script, excellent direction from Fleming, and outstanding acting from principals Tunney, Balk, Campbell, and True. The supernatural elements of the story are handled carefully and earnestly, and witchcraft or the belief in it is never ridiculed or treated derisively. This keeps the tone of the film somewhat dark and edgy, which in turn creates an uneasy, spooky atmosphere that cues the audience to the fact that this is a serious horror film. Fleming wisely keeps the special FX to a minimum until the story's climax on the final reel, and he instead emphasizes the relationships in this group of dysfunctional, angst-ridden girls, well knowing that the primary target audience--to wit, teenagers--will easily relate to these characters and their normal desires and fears.

The Special Edition DVD from Columbia/Tri-Star offers THE CRAFT in anamorphic widescreen at its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The digital transfer is very good, with minimal filmic or digital artifacts. The disc also features an informative commentary with director Andrew Fleming, 2 featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. THE CRAFT is a cool horror film that most fans of the genre will enjoy, and the very reasonable price makes it easy for fans to add this DVD to their collections.

On her first day of school, Sarah is snubbed by the more popular girls and ends up becoming part of a circle of girls who are witches.

One by one, it goes through and shows each one of the girls problem. Bonnie was in a fire and left with horrible burn marks, Rochelle is the target of a racist clique, Nancy comes from a broken home, and Sarah is still haunted by memories of a suicide attempt. They all cast spells to improve their lives, and they work. Sarah makes a guy fall in love with her, Rochelle causes her harasser's hair to fall out, Bonnie overcomes her scars and Nancy ends up killing her jerk stepfather, resulting in her mother and her to inherit a bunch of money from him.

As the girls get deeper and deeper into the craft, Sarah realizes that they are taking everything too far. Bonnie has turned into a total snob, Rochelle's tormentor goes completely bald, Sarah's love spell has turned into dangerous obsession, and Nancy has completely turned power hungry. When Sarah makes her desire to leave the circle known, they will not hear of it. Nancy ends up trying to kill Sarah, resulting in one of the best fight scenes EVER.

Overall, some of the stuff referring to the craft in this movie is true. The quarter calls made by the group are actual Gardnarian Tradition quarter calls, and the threefold law is TRUE (I know from experience, lol)

i thought this was a well done movie.it's exciting,amusing and creepy.which is good since its subject is witchcraft.first off,i thought the four main actresses were great,very suited for their roles.they were very natural and worked off each other very well.i also liked the music to the movie.it suited the movie and the subject matter very well.the filmmakers treated the subject matter appropriately without it straying into camp or ridiculous territory.i also like the fact that the movie showed relevant social issues both for high school teenagers and people in general.there's also a good moral message,which i won't get into,but it will probably be fairly obvious before the movie ends.all in all,a fun,thrilling,creepy and relevant movie,even more so today.my vote for "The Craft":4/5

This movie is by far in my top 3 favorite movies of all time. It takes a lot to sit next to the all time classics, Ferris Bulers day off, and Clueless. I can't tell you how many times i've watched this movie, and by now, i know ALL the words. I got my friends hooked on it to. Nothing beats the first time you watch it though, and that impact you get from watching it a 2 in the morning with the lights off. It's not even that scaring, just creepy, and full of suspense. It's a movie you'll want to watch OVER AND OVER again. If your into the whole, backstabbing, creepy revenge of a phsyco (...)...then you'll really like this movie. I love it and it makes any DVD collection complete.

This movie was not what I had expected at all. It was boring, although it had some kind of plot, it was cliche and predictable. Three teenage girls get into witchcraft, then a new girl transferrs to the school, of course, she becomes the most powerful of them all, and of course, one of the girls had to turn evil, and then the new girl needs to save them all with her all-mighty witch powers.
It is not worth the rental fee.

"THE CRAFT" was honestly one of the best films I've seen in years. If you like "PRACTICAL MAGIC", "HOCUS POCUS" or the t.v. series "CHARMED", then "THE CRAFT" is write up your aly.
weather you are pagan or not, you will definately find some way to relate to this awsome pic.*****

No matter how many times I see this movie, I still find it hard to resist. This is the movie that made me a fan of Neve Campbell's. The creators decided to make a film where witches are no longer old hags. They decided to make a film where witches are high school teenage girls.

Robin Tunney is in the role of Sarah, a teenage witch who has had a hard life. She is moving to L.A. with her father and his girlfriend, Jenny. In her first day of school, a catholic school I might add, Sarah meets and befriends three other witches: Nancy (played by Fairuza Balk), Bonnie (played by the sexy Neve Campbell), and Rachelle (played by Rachel True). The four form a coven and promise to be friends forever, until one night, Nancy surrenders to the higher power by envoking the spirit, which drives her to insanity, causing her to ruin their friendship with Sarah. Now Sarah must confront her former friends by envoking the spirit and proving that she is strong, just like her mother, who died while giving birth, not to mention, who was also a witch.

Some people said that this was a cheesy film. Again, those people have proven themselves to be brain dead. They wouldn't know a good movie, even if it bit them on the ... This is a great film. It's a movie that will definitely "cast a spell on you".

Great storytelling and different plot. I wish teen movies were still like this. Girls get magical powers and anything they want they get, but drama comes with it.I guess the magic is Wicca but I am not sure, The special effects are great, the levatation, and morphing scenes are very good. Very funny and spooky. Watch with some popcorn and enjoy.

The Craft is just a fun movie to watch. Fairuza Balk is wonderful as usual, as the rest of the cast [Robin Tunney. Neve Campbell, Rachel True] It's not to be taken to seriously but if you want to be entertained and slightly spooked, this is a great pick.

Ok, this movie S[tinks]. Let me break it down for you:
1) These girls can't act.
2) Witchcraft and magick and wicca and all that stuff is BOGUS. As in, NOT REAL. As in, PEOPLE CANNOT CAST SPELLS.
3) The plot is retarded.
4) Did I mention that witchcraft is stupid?
There were some entertaining parts to the movie, like when they were performing their "rituals", which was so ridiculous as to make me poop my pants with laughter. I probably pooped myself 7 or 8 times while watching this movie. The only hope I had was that the 4 girls would have some sort of kinky orgy, but that never happened. Avoid at all costs if you have an ounce of brains.