Hocus Pocus is a Halloween classic, with millions of people re-watching the movie every year to celebrate the spooky holiday. But while it’s a cult classic nowadays, Hocus Pocus struggled at the box office when it initially released, and not only that, but the film received quite a few negative reviews from critics. Criticisms were aimed at the film’s humor, “hysterical shrieking,” and its plot holes.
There are numerous Hocus Pocus plot holes, ranging from minor head-scratchers to big annoyances that make huge stretches of the film make no sense. Most viewers will be able to look past these plot holes, but they will definitely annoy others.
Here are some of the most notable Hocus Pocus plot holes.
Some of the most glaring plot holes in Hocus Pocus are the jokes and references that the Sanderson sisters make throughout the film. For most of the movie, the Sanderson sisters are portrayed as being generally incompetent and helpless in a modern world that they know nothing about, to the point where they are terrified of a sprinkler system and don’t understand what buses are. On the flip side of that, the Sanderson sisters make jokes and references about things that they should technically know nothing about, yet do for some unexplained reason.
For example, late in the film Winifred is pursuing Max, Dani, and Allison while they attempt to escape back into the city. While mocking Max, Winifred makes a crack about Max’s driving. “Pull over! Let me see your driver’s permit!” Since motor vehicles didn’t exist at the time the Sanderson sisters were alive, it makes no sense that Winifred would be able to make this kind of joke, especially when the film otherwise portrays her as being completely ignorant to modern day technology.
There are some other examples in Hocus Pocus of the Sanderson sisters making references to things that they should know nothing about. They perform a cover of Jalacy “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins’ song “I Put A Spell On You,” despite the fact that the song wasn’t released until 1956. And not only that, but during the song and dance routine, they appear to know how to use modern day musical equipment, like microphones, which didn’t exist when the Sanderson sisters were alive.
And finally, another reference the Sanderson sisters make during Hocus Pocus that makes no sense is a joke by Mary Sanderson. While trying to sniff out the protagonists, Mary mentions cooking them with “a little bit of margarine,” but similarly to the “I Put A Spell On You” song and microphones, margarine didn’t exist in the time that the Sanderson sisters were hanged for witchcraft.
None of the Hocus Pocus plot holes are quite as frustrating as the one surrounding Binx the talking cat. The Sanderson sisters use their magic powers to transform Thackery Binx into an immortal talking cat at the beginning of the film, apparently believing it to be a fate worse than death. But despite the fact that Binx can talk, he seemingly makes no effort to communicate with his father at the start of the movie, leading to a grim life of loneliness.
One could make the argument that Binx the cat didn’t develop the ability to talk in Hocus Pocus until later in his life, which would explain why he didn’t talk to his father. But then later in the film, the Hocus Pocus protagonists are trying to tell a cop (who is really just a guy dressed as a cop for Halloween) about how the Sanderson sisters have been resurrected. Of course, the cop doesn’t believe their fantastical story, and even though Binx is sitting right here, he doesn’t make any effort to speak and therefore prove that the kids are telling the truth. This would have gotten the kids a lot more help, and would have thrown a big wrench into the Sanderson sisters’ plans.
One possibility is that Binx is only able to communicate with younger people, but this isn’t explained in the film, and therefore this remains one of Hocus Pocus‘ worst plot holes.
The film’s inconsistent portrayal of the Sanderson sisters’ intelligence rears its ugly head again when the sisters visit “Satan,” who is really a man that’s just dressed like Satan for Halloween. Despite apparently having met Satan in the past and serving him as their master, the Sanderson sisters don’t recognize someone who is clearly obviously not the so-called Lord of Darkness. Not only that, but if the Sanderson sisters enjoy Satan and Hell so much, it doesn’t make sense that they’re so afraid of dying.
Speaking of the Sanderson sisters dying, their main goal throughout the movie is to become immortal by absorbing the essence of children. They decide to accomplish this by using Dani, but at the end of the film, Dani, Max, and Allison escape from them. However, the Sanderson sisters still have an entire town’s worth of kids marching mindlessly to their cottage in the woods, and presumably could have used any one of them to make immortal. Instead they decide to hunt down Dani again, which makes no sense. Why wouldn’t the Sanderson sisters become immortal first, then seek their revenge?
Regardless of Hocus Pocus‘ plot holes, there’s no denying that the film is a Halloween classic. Whether or not Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+ lives up to expectations remains to be seen, but hopefully it does the original film justice, and maybe has less plot holes.
Hocus Pocus is available to stream now on Disney+.
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