Like many excellent camping classics, Hocus Pocus needs some time to become legendary.
The 1993 Halloween story about three witch sisters marching through contemporary Salem and attempting to take the souls of children was a critical and financial failure when it was initially released.
Bette Midler, Kathy Najimi and Sarah Jessica Parker played the witch sisters.
It was an unexpectedly mature children's film, full of sexual instincts (virgin lights candles!), dark themes, and complicated cameos that no young man would find.
However, there was something about the film's heady mix of high-octane performances, impeccable fun, and sly punchlines.
(For example, the late Gary and Penny Marshall, real-life brothers, portraying an arguing couple).
Hocus Pocus has grown over time into an evergreen, all-ages Halloween staple, largely due to frequent TV replays and Midler's sheer commercial tenacity.