Magie noire

This is a very entertaining blend of supernatural thriller and teen movie. Sarah (played by Robin Tunney) is the new girl at a Catholic shool in Los Angeles where she meets a group of girls (Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True) who dabble in witchcraft. When Sarah joins the group they discover that they have genuine power and start using it to sort out their personal problems, until the group's leader Nacy (Balk) starts taking it too far.

The film is well-made and several shades darker than the average teen movie. The cast are all very good, especially Fairuza Balk who easily steals the film with her part.

The film's portrayal of witchcraft is a bit more interesting than the standard Hollywood portrayal, and it certainly doesn't represent it as essentially "evil", which makes a nice change. However, as always, this is Hollywood so many liberties will have been taken with genuine wiccan practices.

The film is worth a look, however. The only thing that lets it down is the overblown climax.

This film is nothing really special, and it telegraphs what is going to happen from miles away. The story is about four teen girls in a Catholic high school who are outcasts for different reasons - one lives in poverty with a semi-abusive stepfather, another has a scarred arm and back, another is the victim of boiler plate racism, and the fourth - well, I could never really figure out her problem other than she was the new girl in school.

They are all beautiful, but all are bullied by girls and gals who - IMHO - weren't as good looking as they were. So they dabble in witchcraft to get out of their bad situations. Only two actually wish bad things to happen to their tormentors. The other two just want their bad circumstances to be gone, and in one situation that results in unexpected and unwished for death. But, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and soon the leader of our gang of four is drunk with power.

Am I a bad person because I liked seeing the cool guy make a fool of himself in front of his friends over the girl he trash talked? Well, so be it. The film is mainly good for its special effects and for a look back at the teen stars of the 90s. Fairuza Balk is very good at playing a very bad girl. She has the exotic yet scary facial features for the role, but she couldn't have done anything with it without talent.

Three high school girls are dabbling in witchcraft, but their efforts are getting them nowhere. But then the new girl arrives, who seems to have a natural power. Together, they will walk the path of the witch, but some will take the safe route and others will walk towards the darkness. What will be unleashed, and will they be able to control it?

Having been in high school in the 90s, I was quite aware of the Wiccan craze that was going around, especially among the girls. I don't recall if it came about before or after this film, but they definitely knew what they were doing in constructing the plot and characters. Apparently, Fairuza Balk was a devoted Wiccan and contributed to the authenticity -- I would love to know her thoughts on that now.

Aside from Fairuza Balk, we can look back and see the early careers of Neve Campbell and Robin Tunney... even Christine Taylor, the future wife of Ben Stiller. I had no idea at the time they would blossom into big stars. That, and the soundtrack was rather popular, as well.

Some have compared this film to "Carrie", which I think is a great injustice. Yes, the film is a story of girls coming of age (despite being written and directed by men) and having magical abilities. But it's not much more similar than that. Carrie is an outcast and scared, while the girls here are powerful and puberty really is not a crucial part of the story at all.

I think this film deserves a resurgence: a fine story, good acting and impressive effects for the time. I would recommend it to anyone, and especially if you were a teenager in the 1990s. You may find the themes familiar: it's like "Clueless" for those of us who weren't quite so glamorous.

Despite the movie being as mid-90s as it is, the craft still surprisingly holds up really well today. Of course the main reason being just how well written and relatable our 4 lead characters are. They all come from backgrounds and struggles we all can relate to one way or another. Rather it being broken families, body self-consciousness, or even being bullied for racism. They have incredible chemistry together & can't deny you want to be part of this group. The Witchcraft element is played out very believable & we cheer to see our leads get their happiness. But as we all know sometimes great power can fall in the wrong hands. Cannot think of a better cast from that time period to play these roles. Robin Tunney, a pre-scream Neve Campbell, Rachel True, and of course Fairuza Balk's now iconic performance as the raunchy, sinister, & gorgeous Nancy Downs.

My only issue with the film is a couple of weak moments with character choices. First is the whole love spell storyline with Sarah and this bully named Chris. It doesn't seem clear if she actually really liked him or just wanted to play him for what he did. Also later in the film it doesn't make sense why two of the girls side with Nancy to attack Sarah. They even try to apologize at the end like nearly killing her was just a joke or something.

Despite those flaws the craft is an excellent time. Give it a watch and join the cult weirdo.

Not a really new story about Witch Craft among girl friends but enough twists and surprizes and effects to rise above most. Very well done by all Especially Robin and Fairuza. Very Good effects. Good vs. Evil conflict really kept you in the movie. Great to see in a theater or on a big screen.