DIRECTOR
Andrew
Fleming
SCREENWRITERS
Peter
Filardi
Andrew Fleming
PRODUCER
Douglas Wick
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Alexander Gruszynski
MUSIC
Graeme Revell
EDITOR
Jeff Freeman
CAST
Fairuza Balk (Nancy Downs)
Robin Tunney (Sarah Bailey)
Neve Campbell (Bonnie)
Rachel True (Rochelle)
Christine Taylor (Laura Lizzie)
Skeet Ulrich (Chris Hooker)
Assumpta Serna (Lirio)
Cliff De Young (Mr. Bailey)
Breckin Meyer (Mitt)
Helen Shaver (Grace Downs)
John Kapelos (Nancy's father)
MPAA rating: R
Running
time: 101m
U.S. release: May 3, 1996
Video availability: VHS - DVD
|
Witchcraft
movies tend to be an uneasy mix of female empowerment and punitive
moralizing. The fun comes from watching put-upon women testing
their new powers, and yet the subtext seems to be: See, gals,
you messed around with the supernatural and it got out of hand
-- you invoked an evil spirit or you caught Jack Nicholson's
demonic eye, whatever. Few such movies (except maybe George A.
Romero's superb, obscure Jack's Wife) escape this paradox,
which appears to derive from fear of female power.
The Craft, which I might as well go ahead and nickname
Carrie Meets Heathers, is no exception. Four misfits in
a Los Angeles Catholic high school -- new girl Sarah (Robin Tunney),
punkish Nancy (Fairuza Balk), African-American Rochelle (Rachel
True), and burn-scarred Bonnie (Neve Campbell) -- form a coven,
and for a while they enjoy bonding and being "wicked"
and casting spells. Not for long, though. The story is by Peter
Filardi, who co-wrote the script with director Andrew Fleming
(Threesome). Filardi, who also wrote Flatliners,
must have a thing about young people who mess with the unknown.
Too bad he doesn't also have a thing about snappy dialogue or
complex characters. And Fleming, who made his horror debut with
1988's Freddy Krueger rip-off Bad Dreams, doesn't have
the dark, lyrical touch the material cries out for; he pushes
too hard and frames everything TV-style.
The Craft turns into a war between the decent Sarah and
the gradually amoral Nancy, who can't resist misusing the powers
given to her by the spirit she invokes. The other two are more
intriguing characters but get less screen time. Bonnie's scars
vanish, and she turns into a snob overnight. And Rochelle puts
a curse on a bleached-blonde Heather-type racist, played by Christine
Taylor, who tossed her hair so accurately as Marcia in The Brady
Bunch Movie. Taylor's casting here turns out to be The
Craft's wittiest joke -- Jan Brady would love it.
The script is just connect-the-dots -- far sketchier than such
potentially rich material deserves. But the actresses work their
own magic. Campbell (of TV's Party of Five) and True are
skilled at suggesting many girls' reflexive self-hatred, and
the freckled Tunney, whose dialogue all sounds ad-libbed even
if it isn't, creates an honorable young woman of integrity. And
then there's Fairuza Balk. Since her debut as Dorothy in 1985's
neglected gem Return to Oz (rent it now!), Balk has matured
into a sparkly hellcat of an actress. She was funny and touching
as a street ragamuffin in the recent Things to Do in Denver
When You're Dead, and the best reason to see The Craft
is to watch this former Dorothy become the Wicked Witch of the
West Coast. When she's floating and grinning, she's pure riot-grrl
id -- an unholy mix of Courtney Love and Linda Blair. The
Craft may ultimately depend on Screenwriting 101 sleight-of-hand,
but this coven of actresses -- especially Fairuza Balk, whose
stardom is a decade overdue -- can turn warmed-over horror soup
into a real witches' brew. |
