The Craft (1996)

NEUTRAL

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube

70%

1996, Horror, 1h 40m

RT Critics’ Score: 57% (UNBIASED)
RT Audience Score: 65%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 7 nominations

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Critics Consensus

The Craft’s campy magic often overrides the feminist message at its story’s core, but its appealing cast and postmodern perspective still cast a sporadic spell

Audience Consensus

The Craft is like a witchy version of The Breakfast Club, but with more spells and less detention. The characters are all so different and interesting, and the movie does a great job of exploring their individual stories. Plus, the soundtrack is totally banging. Sure, the special effects might be a little dated, but that just adds to the charm. Overall, it’s a fun and empowering movie that will make you want to start your own coven.

Storyline

In Los Angeles, the teenager Sarah Bailey has just arrived from San Francisco with her father Mr. Bailey and her stepmother to live in an old house. When she goes to the Catholic high school, she is not well received by her schoolmates and has a crush on the football player Chris Hooker. He lures her and tells lies and gossips about their relationship. Soon the outcast Nancy Downs, Bonnie Rachel and Rochelle, who are known as witches, invite Sarah to join them. Nancy lives with her drunken mother and her boyfriend and hates him. Bonnie has awful burning scars on her back and has complex. Rochelle hates the racist Laura Lizzie, who despises her color and her hair. Sarah does not know that she is a powerful witch and when they form their coven, they become powerful and cast spells on their enemies. When Sarah feels that something is wrong with her friends, she meets the clairvoyant Lirio that tells that the spells may return three times stronger.

Production Company(ies)
New Line Cinema, Wing Nut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company,

Distributor
Columbia Pictures, Columbia Tristar, Columbia TriStar Home Video

Release Type

Filming Location(s)
Verdugo Hills High School – 10625 Plainview Avenue, Tujunga, Los Angeles, California, USA

MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some terror and violence, and for brief language

Year of Release
1996

Technical Specs

Color:

Color
Sound mix:

SDDS Dolby
Aspect ratio:

1.85 : 1
Runtime:

1h 40m
Language(s):

English, French
Country of origin:

United States
Release date:

Release Date (Theaters): May 3, 1996 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 3, 2002

Genre(s)
Horror

Keyword(s)
starring Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True, Skeet Ulrich, Helen Shaver, directed by Andrew Fleming, written by Peter Filardi and Andrew Fleming, horror, box office gross $22.7M, reviewed by Chris Stuckmann, Douglas Wick produced, R MPAA rating, witchcraft, supernatural, high school, female empowerment, friendship, revenge, telekinesis, spells, occult, Pagan, Wicca, feminist message, postmodern perspective, campy magic, appealing cast, troubled backgrounds, power-mad, dangerous consequences, minor spell, hair loss, nascent powers, box office hit, cult classic, dark fantasy, sexy, lack of depth, plot holes, variety in characters, delicious witches, energy, creepy material, bloodshed, violence, invoking spirits, restricted rating, top horror movies, MCU movies ranked, renewed and cancelled TV shows, worst horror movies, best Netflix series

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $24,819,936
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $47,374,941
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,358
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,166,297

US/Canada gross: $24,819,936
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $47,374,941
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,100
US/Canada opening weekend: $6,710,995
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $12,809,582
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 871

Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $15,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $28,631,183
Production budget ranking: 1,177
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $15,417,892
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $3,325,867
ROI to date (est.): 8%
ROI ranking: 1,361

Cast & Crew

Robin Tunney

Fairuza Balk

Neve Campbell

Rachel True

Skeet Ulrich

Sarah Bailey

Nancy Downs

Bonnie

Rochelle

Chris Hooker

Robin Tunney – Sarah Bailey
Fairuza Balk – Nancy Downs
Neve Campbell – Bonnie
Rachel True – Rochelle
Skeet Ulrich – Chris Hooker
Helen Shaver – Grace Downs

Andrew Fleming

Peter Filardi

Douglas Wick

Director

Writer

Producer

Director(s)
Andrew Fleming

Writer(s)
Peter Filardi, Andrew Fleming

Producer(s)
Douglas Wick

Film Festivals

Awards & Nominations
1 win & 7 nominations

Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Chris Stuckmann

Michael Wilmington

Wally Hammond

Caroline Westbrook

Emma Forrest

ChrisStuckmann.com

Chicago Tribune

Time Out

Empire Magazine

Independent (UK)

THE CRAFT
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (26)
I really enjoy the characters. Every single one of them is very unique and the film does an excellent job at fleshing out each girl.

October 23, 2020 | Rating: B-

Chris Stuckmann
ChrisStuckmann.com
TOP CRITIC
What can you say about a movie that seems to have been conceived like a trailer and written in exclamation points and gets stolen by the cinematographer?

December 6, 2018 | Rating: 1.5/4

Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
… deliciously dangerous excursions into adolescent self-discovery.

December 6, 2018 | Rating: 4/5

Wally Hammond
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Still, with suitable suspension of disbelief this makes for agreeable enough nonsense.

December 6, 2018 | Rating: 3/5

Caroline Westbrook
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The best teen flick since Clueless is The Craft.

December 6, 2018

Emma Forrest
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The great strength of The Craft is that it doesn’t pass judgment on why the girls are doing what they do… The film’s message of female empowerment felt cathartic, but so did its rage.

December 4, 2018

Anne Cohen
Refinery29
TOP CRITIC
The Craft … has a legacy that outweighs both its limited success and few flaws.

May 21, 2021 | Rating: 8/10

Sean Collier
Box Office Prophets
Set to a banging alt-rock soundtrack, it follows four teenage outcasts who begin dabbling in the dark art of witchcraft, and soon find themselves out of their depth.

May 10, 2021

Nick Levine
NME
Masquerades as a female empowerment film despite prioritizing the toxicity that can be rampant in groups of friends (female or otherwise).

December 30, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/5

Trace Thurman
Horror Queers Podcast
I’ve never subscribed to this genre of movie…I found a lot of this stuff to just not be palatable. But for its time, it’s an okay movie.

August 12, 2019 | Rating: 2/5

Justin Brown
Medium Popcorn
The effects are obviously a bit rough around the edges, and the acting is very mixed.

August 12, 2019 | Rating: 2/5

Brandon Collins
Medium Popcorn
Despite the fact that none of the actresses were anywhere near teen age while making the film, they’re all pretty convincing as tortured teens expressing their pubescent angst through magic.

March 31, 2019 | Rating: 3/5

Jo Berry
Movies4Kids…

Plot
In Los Angeles, the teenager Sarah Bailey has just arrived from San Francisco with her father Mr. Bailey and her stepmother to live in an old house. When she goes to the Catholic high school, she is not well received by her schoolmates and has a crush on the football player Chris Hooker. He lures her and tells lies and gossips about their relationship. Soon the outcast Nancy Downs, Bonnie Rachel and Rochelle, who are known as witches, invite Sarah to join them. Nancy lives with her drunken mother and her boyfriend and hates him. Bonnie has awful burning scars on her back and has complex. Rochelle hates the racist Laura Lizzie, who despises her color and her hair. Sarah does not know that she is a powerful witch and when they form their coven, they become powerful and cast spells on their enemies. When Sarah feels that something is wrong with her friends, she meets the clairvoyant Lirio that tells that the spells may return three times stronger.

Trivia