Feats N' Faults: Hocus Pocus

The Witches Are Back!

Oct 24, 2024

Welcome back to Feats N’ Faults, where we use our Tiered Point System to rank and record our favorite characters based on their achievements and deeds. For a more in depth look on how points are awarded, please check the About page. Below is our Tier System for quick reference.

♫ The witches, the witches, the witches are back! ♫ Sorry, that song has been stuck in my head for hours! Welcome back to our Halloween season feeds. We are getting closer and closer to the big day now. I hope you all went out and got yourselves some candy and have a couple of candles burning. Isn't fall the best time of the year? This week, we are looking at the cult classic Hocus Pocus and its recent sequel. The Sanderson Sisters have really made their mark on the season, so it would be crazy not to cover them. If you want to play at home, go ahead and grab a couple of pieces of paper because we have a ton of characters to look at. To make it easier, I split them up between the heroes and the villains. And yes, I count Gilbert as a villain. List from least to greatest how you think these villains affected their stories: Winifred, Sarah, Mary, and Gilbert. For the heroes, we are looking at Dani, Max, Allison, Billy, Cassie, Izzy, Becca, and Binx. It is a really tricky one to try and play. A lot of surprises in this feed. Some did remarkably well and beat my expectations, and some should have just gone trick or treating instead. If you somehow managed to get them all right, let me know in the comments!

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                                                              Let's Get Started!

8th Place, Dani: 0 FN’F Score (1993) 1 Movie

Oof, zero FN’F Score is not a good look. Cut her some slack, though, because she is just a child. All she wanted was for her brother to take her trick or treating. She didn’t want to get dragged into all this mess. I mean, she saved her brother from a witch. Not many children can say that! All in all, she did not make a very good supernatural hunter and, unfortunately, will end up at the bottom of our overall tier lists.

7th Place, Becca: 1 FN’F Score (2022) 1 Movie

Oh man, not another one. Becca probably surprised me the most. She is the leading protagonist of the Hocus Pocus 2. I thought that with her witch powers, she would be able to score some decent points. Unfortunately, she just had too many faults to her name. It almost completely wiped away all the progress she had made. I told you this one would be a hard one to guess. I would have never put her this low in the rankings.

6th Place, Cassie: 1 FN’F Score (2022) 1 Movie

Yup, we got another one. Cassie, like Becca, was only able to score a single point. This one makes a little more sense to me. She is barely in the new movie. Taking a back seat until the end, she never really had the time to prove herself. There is not much to say either, except that she is dating a dumb football guy and wants to be popular. Not too different from any other high school girl.

5th Place, Izzy: 2 FN’F Score (2022) 1 Movie

Might as well get all of the second movie’s protagonists out of the way. We have the complete set now. Izzy was able to save Cassie, and that was enough to put her in front of her friends. I guess all three of them are in a coven now, so if they ever make a third movie, maybe these three will be able to improve their scores.

4th Place, Allison: 2 FN’F Score (1993) 1 Movie

The original girl did not do much better. Allison was tied with Izzy and only scored 2 points as well. I think her feats sound a tad more impressive, so I think she pulled ahead. At this rate, I wonder if anyone will be able to nail down an impressive score.

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3rd Place, Billy: 2 FN’F Score (1993-2022) 2 Movies

Poor Billy Butcherson. He was accused of being Winifred’s lover. Then got his mouth sown shut and poisoned! He did not deserve any of this. Let the poor zombie sleep! Yet, in every movie, he is brought back. But even so, he doesn't do much with his time. Mostly just wandering around or trying to find his head. He is the first on the list to not have a fault but never accomplished anything. Just complaining and going back to sleep.

2nd Place, Binx: 3 FN’F Score (1993) 1 Movie

I bet you weren’t expecting the talking cat to be in second! Binx really surprised me. There were no faults to pull him back down. He earned his few feats by foiling the Sanderson Sisters. He might have been the smallest hero, but he made a huge impact on the war against the Sandersons. What a good kitty. I am glad he was finally reunited with his sister after his long journey protecting the book.

1st Place, Max: 9 FN’F Score (1993) 1 Movie

This kid is pure Paul Rudd energy. If I were to recast him as an adult or to cast his dad, Paul Rudd would be the obvious choice. Max really gives that first film a lot of charm. When I first saw this movie, I didn’t think I would like him. Yet, to my surprise, he didn’t annoy me. He kicked some serious butt too. Compared to the rest of the characters, he did amazing. Almost hitting double digits! He saves his sister on multiple occasions, tricks the witches, and even takes out Winifred! He deserves to be in our top spot. Even if he did leave those two bullies to be eaten alive.

Hocus Pocus: Villains

4th Place, Gilbert: 4 FN’F Score (2022) 1 Movie

Ok, I know this might be a little controversial, but Gilbert is definitely a villain. He might be a little sympathetic and have a slight change of heart in the end, but he is a villain through and through. He has no clear motive for wanting to bring the Sanderson sisters back, and yet he puts so much effort into it. He recreates the black candle, tricks some poor girls into lighting it, and cries about being cursed. I still don’t fully understand what his goal was or why the girls were not more infuriated by him. Still, he got a lot more done than the girls. The villains are starting out strong with a 4 FN’F Score. But I have a feeling those Sanderson sisters are going to have a lot more to offer.

3rd Place, Sarah: 5 FN’F Score (1993-2022) 2 Movies

Sarah Sanderson was the least-performing Sanderson sister. She has her moments, like when she enchanted a group of kids in the first movie, but her faults really pull her score down. It is a comedy, and when you have that, you see a lot of the gags turning into faults. It does not mean she is a weak character. She just never got time to showcase her skills. To be honest, I was expecting a bit more from her, but not by much.

2nd Place, Mary: 8 FN’F Score (1993-2022) 2 Movies

Mary Sanderson did a little bit better than her sister. She also had one less fault. I guess the comic relief isn’t always the worst-performing character. Mary definitely has more gags thrown her way, but she used that to prove herself instead of letting it hinder her. A good example would be bringing the Roombas to life! Sure, it is a joke, but it also turned into two Feats. While Mary and Sarah tried their best, they were no match for the strongest of them. We should all know who our first place is now.

1st Place, Winifred: 33 FN’F Score (1993-2022) 2 Movies

Hocus Pocus, Alakazam, just look at that total scored by Winifred. She absolutely dominated this series. Not only did she come in first place, but she also had a respectable score that competed with other high-caliber characters. From some perspective, she was able to beat out other magical characters like Thorin Oakenshield and Heimdall. Her faults might be a little embarrassing. I mean, she was beaten by a car’s headlight and some sprinklers. Not the epic defeats that you might see with other villains. Still, she took over and enchanted large groups of people on multiple occasions. Hell, she kills a little girl in her on-screen debut and drains her life force. That is pretty hardcore. She might be from a children's Halloween movie, but she should not be underestimated. I wonder if she will show up in any of our top-tier or top-team lists in the future. Guess you will just have to subscribe and stay tuned to find out!

Review:

Hocus Pocus: 5.5/10

They are fine movies. It is not necessarily my thing or what I would watch during the Halloween season, but I can see the appeal. They definitely have a charm to them, and I can see why it would have become a cult classic, especially if you grew up with it. There are some jokes in each that make me chuckle, and the premise is a good excuse for the three sisters to play and have fun. The musical numbers are an entertaining touch. The songs definitely get stuck in your head. Usually, when I review a series, there is a movie that stands out from the other. Whether that is in a good or bad way. Yet with these, I think they are both comparable. I remember there being some discourse about the second movie, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. Our protagonists are a little flat, but no one is watching for them. We wanna see the funny witches! If they do make a third, I would much rather us just follow the witches as they try to catch a bunch of kids or go to war with another coven. I think that would be a much better film. Hell, just make it a talent show with the Sanderson Sisters. How fun would that be! They enter a game show to try and win something that they mistook as a magical artifact, but in fact, it is just a blender or something. I'd watch the hell outta of that.

Recommendation: Ehh

I would recommend it if it was Halloween, you had never seen it before, and you have a kid. That is just too many prerequisites to give it a full recommendation. I am a bit indifferent, to be honest. I watched it for the first time a couple of years ago and did not like it very much. However, I found myself enjoying this rewatch a lot more. So maybe it is a repetition thing? The more I watch it, the more I am enchanted to want to watch it more. If that is the case, then don’t watch it! Save yourselves before we are all hexed into loving these films. They are not bad, but I do not foresee myself watching them every Halloween. I guess that’s where I land.

Thanks so much for tuning into another Halloween Special! We are almost through this month, can you believe it? Next week is Halloween already. I hope you are all stocked up and ready for trick-or-treaters and have some cool costumes picked out. I am looking forward to seeing you all next Thursday as we finish out this Spooky Season with a bang! Until then, do not forget to subscribe and tell a friend so we can keep this community growing. Also, don’t forget to tell me in the comments how big a fan of Hocus Pocus you are and why I am so wrong with my ratings. I would love to hear why you love this movie and what other movies you like to watch during Halloween. I hope you all have a terrific week!