I just watched Hocus Pocus for the second time. It's 2023, and I only saw it for the first time last year -- 30 years after its release -- but after all this time, my wife finally got me to sit through it. And ... it's not as bad as, for whatever reason, I thought it would be. Maybe it's just a personal bias -- despite its cult status, I've always been more of a Practical Magic kind of guy.

Still, Hocus Pocus is pretty good, and I can see why so many people -- including my wife -- look forward to watching it year after year. It's a bit corny, a bit cheesy, and there's an unholy fixation on a teenage boy's virginity, but it's still a lot of fun.

The plot centers on the Sanderson sisters -- Winifred, Sarah and Mary (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) -- who, in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1693, are hanged by the townsfolk after sucking the life force from a young girl and transforming her big brother Thackery (Sean Murray) into an immortal cat. Flash forward to 1993, and high-schooler Max (Omri Katz) is bitterly resistant to his new Salem home, while his younger sister Dani (Thora Birch) is excited for her first Halloween in the spooky town. While their parents dance the night away at a community party, Max takes Dani trick-or-treating; his grumpiness evaporates when they run into his school crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw), and together they visit the closed Sanderson cottage/museum, where Max skeptically lights the black light candle and, because he's a virgin, it brings the sisters back to life.

The youngsters flee after stealing Winifred's living book of spells and meet up with Thackery the cat; the sisters want to catch them (even as they try to get accustomed to modern life), and to do so they employ the services of the zombified corpse of Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), who met his sorry end after dallying with two of the three Sanderson sisters and is now bound to follow their commands. The witches will die again if they can't complete a specific spell by sunrise, but the spell requires the lives of Salem's children.

Along the way, Winifred finds time to sing a song at the grownups' party, which will compel them to dance until they die of exhaustion.

Hijinks ensue.

It's a colorful Halloween movie that I suspect will now be an annual tradition in our house. It's fun, and not too scary -- only the script's fixation on Max's virginity might bring up an uncomfortable question or two from young viewers.

I guess now it's time to watch the sequel.