The Craft

The Craft, directed by Andrew Fleming, 1996, ISSN 0767853466

Plot Summary

                       When troubled Sarah, played by Robin Tunney, moves into town and starts at a new Catholic school, it seems she will have difficulty yet again fitting in with her classmates.  But she is quickly befriended by a trio of girls who, she discovers, have an interest in magic and believe that she is the fourth of their coven.  They begin to spend time together casting spells and invoking the spirit to cement their union.   Awkward burn victim Bonnie, played by Neve Campbell, casts a spell for beauty.  Rochelle, played by Rachel True, casts a revenge spell on the racist bully making her life miserable.  Nancy, played by a devilishly wicked Fairuza Balk, casts a spell for power.  And Sarah, her reputation smeared by a boy who spread rumors about sexual escapades that never happened, casts a love spell in order to humiliate him.  Before long it becomes evident that Sarah does truly possess supernatural abilities, and that their spells are working.  The spells go horribly awry, none so much as Nancy's, who becomes galvanized with evil power and a total lack of conscience.  Sarah must figure out how to use her powers for good and break the union of their coven, so as to stop Nancy and the destructive spells the girls have cast, but they are hellbent on preventing this at any cost.

Critical Analysis

                           The Craft is an action-packed good time, pure entertainment more than anything else.  The witchcraft practiced in this movie is almost cartoonish at times, and not scary at all, but this is not meant to be the appeal.  This is a movie about empowerment and vengeance gone wrong, about the fury of a woman scorned, and about good triumphing over evil.  The writing is exaggerated but well-delivered by the actresses.  The performances of the main players are principally what really works in The Craft.  Robin Tunney as Sarah captures the seriousness of this character, and the shadows in Sarah's past that haunt her.  Neve Campbell as Bonnie is very believable as the shy girl with no self-esteem, and delightfully hateable as the conceited sexpot once her beauty spell takes effect.  Rachel True as Rochelle, the least dynamic of the four characters, is still plenty likable before her spell and entertaining after the coven takes a turn for the evil.  It is Fairuza Balk's performance as Nancy, however, that truly steals the show.  Nancy is poor white trash with no hope of elevating herself; she is trapped and helpless and simmering with frustration.  Her sharp tongue and frenetic energy are arresting whenever she is on screen, and after the transformation when she is drunk with power and purely destructive, her black-rimmed pale eyes gone wide and crazed, she is in full control of the movie.  The power of her performance is startling in a film that is more guilty-pleasure enjoyable than anything else.  Overall The Craft is an enjoyable popcorn movie, meaning long on entertainment value if short on true dramatic merit.

About the Director

                               Andrew Fleming is an openly gay screenwriter and director who studied film making at New York University film school. He has worked on such films as The Craft, Bad Dreams, Threesome, and Hamlet 2, among others.   He has also directed episodes of such celebrated television shows as Grosse Point and Arrested Development. 

Annotation

                  Four high school girls scorned and outcast by their peers seek revenge by forming a coven and practicing witchcraft, but this new found power soon goes horribly awry.

Genre

         Horror

Challenge Issues

                           Possible challenge issues in this movie include profanity, discussion of sex, underage drinking, violence, murder, suicide, and witchcraft. In the event of a challenge, I would consult the challenge defense file prepared for this movie. The challenge defense file would include: positive reviews from credible sources for the purpose of proving merit to the challenger; negative reviews in order to inform me on what might be challenged; a written explanation of my own rationale for including the movie in the collection as well as a summary of the plot; the American Library Association Bill of Rights; a review of my branch’s selection policy; and, as a last resort, an explanation of the reconsideration policy for my library and an official reconsideration form.

Curriculum Ties

                          N/A

Interest Age

                    Grades 8-12.

Why I Included This Movie

                                             This movie is definitely a guilty-pleasure teen classic.  I included it because, cheesy or not, there is nothing else quite like it. 

References
Andrew Fleming. (2011). Wikipedia.org. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Fleming