1996 was a major moment for goth girls everywhere with the release ofThe Craft.Directed byAndrew Fleming, this cult classic centered around a group of high school-aged witches was released only a year afterClueless, but it had a very different energy for a movie about a high school friend group.The Craftrevived an interest in witchcraft amongst a younger generation,while also inspiring an era of macabre nineties fashion. But you may not know that the actual set of the film got pretty witchy as well, and this was a significant step for Hollywood.
The Craftfollows high schooler Sarah (Robin Tunney) as she moves from the Bay Area to Los Angeles and befriends a trio of fellow witchy outcasts: Nancy (Fairuza Balk), Rochelle (Rachel True), and Bonnie (Neve Campbell). The four girls form a coven and begin practicing their powers,casting spells for love, beauty, power, and revenge. Things begin to spiral out of hand when Nancy, the unofficial group leader,gets a little too power-hungry, resulting in a final struggle and a surprisingly bleak ending to the film. Despite its spectacles,The Craftdeals with heavy subject matter, particularly in the case of Nancy’s mental health.This core of realism running through the film matches well with its depiction of modern witchcraft.
Fleming Hired a Wicca Priestess To Oversee ‘The Craft’
The nineties saw the release of several iconic movies about witches, includingHocus Pocus,TheWitches, andPractical Magic. These movies often portrayed witches in a whimsical, campy way that leaned heavily on stereotypes. In contrast, Fleming wanted to take a more realistic approach to modern witchcraft withThe Craft.According toTIME,Fleming hired the Gardnerian Wicca priestessPat Devinto oversee the film. With Devin’s guidance,the cast practiced real chants, and their spells and rituals drew directly from books on Wicca, a religion that has existed in its modern form since the early 20th century. Despite Fleming’s efforts to honor the real Wicca religion,many practicing witches were generally not satisfied with the film, criticizing its inaccuracies and its sensationalized plot.
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With the film’s 2020 sequel,The Craft: Legacy,directorZoe Lister-Joneswent a few steps beyond Fleming’s efforts. Lister-Jones brought three real witches on board, includingBri Luna, an astrologer andtarot reader, as well as the writer, academic, and podcast hostPam Grossman. Grossman wrote all the incantations used in the film and helped Lister-Jones write the script. This sequel did not do well critically and generally failed to live up to the original’s staying power. However, Lister-Jones' efforts to honor real-world witchcraft practices are significant, especially givenHollywood’s troubled legacy of portraying women on screen, much less witches.
‘The Craft’ Challenged Hollywood Stereotypes of Witches
Witches in movies are enduring icons of feminine powerwho can use this power for good or evil. Unfortunately, by leaning towards stereotypes rather than realistic depictions,many films about witches fall into misogynistic tropes.These includeassociating older women with the grotesqueand younger witches being untrustworthy seductresses similar tofemme fatales. Becausewitchcraft has long been a code word for feminine independence and social control, it has been made taboo in media for the same reasons. It is always acceptable for a witch to be a villain on screen, but for a witch to be a complex, fully-realized human is less common, even still today.
While the originalThe Craftstill had its outlandish action sequences, particularly towards the end, the film is also significant for itsnuanced and human performances. Fairuza Balk’s portrayal of Nancy Downs is unhinged, sometimes terrifying, and complex, whileNeve Campbell’s Bonnieis shy and dealing with a host of insecurities about her social standing and body image. To complement its well-rounded female characters,The Craftstill stands out for its efforts to honor real practicing witches, a step in the right direction for expanding depictions of women on screen.
The Craft is a 1996 teen horror movie starring Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, and Rachel True. The Andrew Fleming-directed film focuses on a group of outcasts at an LA high school who practice witchcraft and create their own coven. The film received mixed reviews but was a surprise hit at the box office for Columbia.
The Craft(1996) is available to watch on Peacock in the U.S.
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