The Craft (1996) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

Here’s my review of the film, The Craft.  Thanks for watching and please subscribe. New content dropping every week.   For Exclusive Content: https://www.patreon.com/filmsceneinvestigation  Rumble: https://www.rumble.com/filmsceneinvestigations   Odysee: https://odysee.com/@filmsceneinvestigation:e  Daily Motion: https://www.dailymotion.com/Filmsceneinvestigation  Help Support Me At:  https://www.PayPal.me/beaucarter91

Transcript

00:00hey guys how's it going it's me Bo back here on the film scene investigation channel thank you so

00:19much for checking out this video in today's review i'm going to be taking a look at the

00:261996 gothic drama the craft now i've known about this movie for many years but uh only up until

00:37recently did i actually sit down and watch it i actually remember i have a memory uh when i was

00:44a kid of going into blockbuster and seeing the poster you know seeing all four actresses on the

00:51front and yeah i mean as a kid i was into kind of action films and this kind of seemed like some

00:58sort of you know chick flick kind of thing so yeah i just kind of disregarded it the only reason i

01:05ended up reviewing this film was that i was reviewing some uh nev campbell films i saw her filmography

01:12saw the craft listed and yeah just it's like maybe i should you know finally sit down and check this

01:19out just before we get into the review guys of course if you haven't already please do consider

01:26subscribing to the channel all the support is greatly appreciated so the craft from 1996 was a film that

01:36was directed by andrew fleming and starred an ensemble cast of actresses including faruza bulk

01:43and nev campbell produced on a budget of around about 15 million dollars this film went on to recoup

01:52over 50 million at the box office and over the years has garnered a cult following as for the plot

02:00the movie focused on the character sarah a troubled young woman who was played by actress robin tunney

02:08now she had a difficult life and we saw her moving to los angeles with her family to begin

02:15a new chapter we saw sarah's journey as she joined a local catholic school where she ended up befriending

02:22a group of girls who practiced witchcraft the group were led by the character nancy who was played by

02:30actress feruza bulk a very moody girl who was full of angst and attitude the trio were in the process

02:41of finding a fourth member to complete their coven and the line the four elements earth air fire and water

02:49they saw sarah as an individual with a problematic past and thought that she would be perfect to join the

02:59group initially sarah was a little bit hesitant i mean she wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of

03:07you know having friends i mean she was an outsider but she ended up joining and very quickly all four

03:14girls started bonding and performing these rituals together sarah suddenly had friends that she could

03:22confide in something that she didn't expect to have and with that the group's powers you know together

03:30they grew stronger and eventually they started delving into some very dark magic the group started

03:38using their new powers for personal gains such as bonnie the character played by neve campbell

03:44who ended up using her magic so she could remove her body scars similar to sarah bonnie had some major

03:53hang-ups about her disfigurement and through that we saw her wear a lot of baggy clothing to cover it up

04:02but like i said she used the magic these spells this trickery to remove these scars and once the scars

04:09were gone suddenly we saw this new personality kind of come out of bonnie and she really embraced that

04:18transformation the group also channeled their energies and discovered some newfound skills such as

04:25levitation and hypnosis the levitation scene in particular was really well done you know seeing the

04:34girls completely shocked that their magic actually worked one minute rochelle was laying down on the

04:41floor the next she was literally floating in the air with all the girls in you know shock and disbelief

04:49they just couldn't believe that their witchery had worked and then you know to top it off you ended up

04:55having bonnie's mom come in and disturb them and see rochelle suddenly fall down to the ground and

05:01it was a great scene very memorable and uh yeah probably my favorite scene actually in the entire

05:06film while initially it seemed great to have these newfound skills the girls decided to go deeper and

05:15explore further with their witchcraft which ultimately led to some deadly consequences nancy in particular

05:25started to have this personality change you know she started becoming more erratic her behavior was

05:33kind of unhinged and with her i mean she just was hell-bent on gaining more and more power and

05:42there was absolutely no one that was going to get in her way she was basically transfixed and uh

05:50well this odd behavior didn't go unnoticed by sarah who eventually confronted nancy about the whole

05:57thing but this was a mistake on sarah's part because having openly criticized her in front of everyone

06:08well eventually sarah once again became the outcast you know sarah was just concerned for her friend

06:18she knew that nancy was acting strange and likely was due to all this witchcraft that they had been

06:26learning together anyway she wanted to address the problem you know and try and sort it out

06:32but nancy wasn't having any of it and very quickly everyone well sarah became like public enemy number one she

06:41became the target and had no one else to turn to maybe it's just me but i always got the impression

06:49that deep down nancy was kind of jealous of sarah i'm not exactly sure why maybe because she had a much

06:59more loving kind of family background you know her mom and her dad that loved her whereas nancy had or

07:06came from a very troubled background of some really you know horrible kind of you know parents they

07:12didn't didn't care about her and so i guess in some ways once sarah had criticized nancy well i mean

07:21it was the perfect opportunity uh the perfect excuse to use to then go after sarah now taking a step back

07:30and looking at the overall film i came to the conclusion that the craft was clearly a vehicle

07:39created by hollywood to promote paganism to a younger audience in other words the movie glamorized

07:49such sadistic practices as this trendy lifestyle that would appeal to young adults you know just

08:00look at the setting you know it couldn't just be a high school it had to be a catholic academy you

08:06know so that's them the filmmakers putting a religious slant on the whole thing the movie targeted a young

08:16audience and normalized harmful behaviors especially aimed at the female demographic you know i'm not saying

08:25that you know we can blame the craft for the world's problems and stuff like that no of course not

08:32all i'm saying is that like many films you know the craft did contribute in my opinion to the slow decline

08:41that we see in western society thematically the craft explored the importance of identity in a world where

08:52you're you're the outcast you had all four of these young women oppressed and then coming together

09:00and finding their identity through witchcraft you know you had to see what the film is doing here

09:07because it's actually the dark paganism rituals that bonded these four women together but i will say that

09:18it was interesting to see how eventually this bond it turned sour and it showed how absolute power

09:28can corrupt anyone that uses it also with the film being set in a high school we saw how such a

09:37toxic environment can really shape someone's personality and i did find that quite interesting

09:44now while some could dismiss the craft for being this you know throwaway teen movie you know whatever

09:53in actual fact the movie does hold some substance especially with the lead character sarah having a

10:02suicidal past i thought the filmmakers did a pretty good job actually in the sense that they didn't shy away

10:10from you know the hard truths and we have to remember that with the sarah character that abusive side

10:19was very much part of her personality you know i'm a straight shooter i tell it like it is and you know

10:26some people you know don't like that especially in the world of fakery but ultimately i'll give hollywood

10:32credit in the sense that at least they were brave enough to actually address such a controversial hot

10:41topic the only slight criticism i do have is that i don't think the film went far enough in in showing

10:49how dangerous such behavior can be as when sarah ended up revealing to the rest of the girls about her

10:57you know abusive past they kind of saw it as this you know cool trendy thing you know they the reaction

11:06they should have been given is of concern and shock for their friend if they're hurting themselves

11:13but yeah nancy and bonnie they were just like ah pretty cool huh when it comes to the performances

11:22overall i thought everyone did a pretty good job and together the coven all four actresses i thought

11:31they had some great chemistry they all had their individual personalities but the movie gave everyone

11:38a chance to shine and we got to know each character individually which was really well done with all that

11:45said i have to say the craft ultimately was feruza bulk's showcasing moment she was the standout

11:55she was the most memorable character in the entire film and it really was perfect casting from her style

12:05to her dialogue you know bulk really encapsulated this moody angsty teenager with this

12:14really bad attitude now i've seen feruza bulk in a number of films over the years including

12:21american history x from 1998 which i've reviewed on this channel but looking back she tends to have

12:30quite limited roles you know kind of a limited screen time but with the craft you know she got her time

12:38to shine and she didn't disappoint if you're a fan of her and you haven't seen this one yet

12:44it's a must watch it really is i mean going into it um i wasn't too sure who exactly was the lead and

12:52i guess in some ways it was the sarah character but nancy you know feruza bulk she really owned that

13:00role and it also just made me think that you know feruza bulk even though she was kind of you know

13:10small in stature she really in my opinion would have made a great harley quinn so uh yeah that just

13:19it just came to me when i when i watched the film i thought man you know she's got the look already you

13:23know she would have done a great job as for nev campbell i thought overall she did a pretty good

13:30job playing bonnie the young woman with the disfigured body overall it was uh a solid performance

13:37from campbell but i've seen better from her i mean i'm not kind of criticizing her she was good

13:44but obviously you know scream was a major highlight in her career and rightly so

13:51and also i reviewed a movie a few months back called wild things from 1998 uh also starring

13:59Kevin Bacon and Kevin Bacon and she was better in that film too the actor Skeet Ulrich had a minor role

14:07in the film playing the romantic love interest for sarah he was a guy called chris who pretty much was a

14:16douchebag you know the kind of quintessential high school type that was just really out to have sex

14:25of as many cows as he could find in some ways the chris character was a little bit like the billy

14:33loomis character from scream only a little more goofy overall i thought Ulrich did a pretty good job

14:41but i did prefer him in terms of his look in scream with the longer black hair he uh kind of looked like

14:50a bit of a geek in the craft before we get to dislikes i also want to mention the movie's soundtrack

14:57which was a really great collection of songs and yeah i mean just perfectly captured that mid-90s gothic

15:07vibe i particularly liked the cover version of the song how soon is now by the smiths in the soundtrack

15:16it was covered by a band called love spit love and uh you know while it of course would have been

15:23brilliant to have the original recording i still thought that having this song i mean such a powerful

15:28song in general yeah it uh was yeah perfect for the craft there's also a really nice remix of the song

15:36glory box by the band portis head of course it would have been great to have the original recording

15:43but uh this remix this slowed down version it perfectly suited what the film was going for

15:49just overall a really great soundtrack and yeah it's one of those things where you can you know

15:56listen to that soundtrack individually at any time and just enjoy the you know collection of

16:02alternative rock songs on it i should also quickly mention that there were a number of really great

16:08visuals throughout this film it's safe to say that this was a very well made production and uh yeah

16:15you know just from the cinematography the lighting the camera movements yeah it was all uh to a high

16:22standard in particular the beach scene i really enjoyed just from the way everything looked you know

16:30from this circle of fire you had all four women you know putting their hands up in the air

16:35doing this ritual yeah just uh just thought it was great really yeah it just looked like the

16:41quintessential gothic mid-90s movie and so dislikes for the craft from 1996 my biggest dislike for the film

16:53would have to be the racist subplot that involved the rochelle character so the setup to this was that

17:02rochelle was being bullied by this blonde girl and eventually at some point we saw the girl say this

17:11racial slur which to me kind of came out of nowhere eventually rochelle would use some witchcraft

17:20to get her own back on the bully but um for me it just seemed very very forced i understand the

17:29whole bullying storyline i mean you know we've seen it so many times you know people bully each other

17:35uh yeah i understand that but the subtext around the whole skin color racial slur to me it just seemed

17:45unnecessary you know i would expect to see that kind of stuff in today's cinema which we do you know

17:53with the hollywood dei quota and you know them constantly promoting these progressive ideas

18:00but to see it in a mid-90s film yeah it kind of caught me off guard and in some ways

18:07you know the craft was ahead of its time but not in a good way it's also worth noting that this whole

18:16racism subplot wasn't actually in the original script it was only added in after the actress

18:23rachel true who went on to play rochelle was cast so yeah clearly the filmmakers had their own

18:31motivations in inserting this racist subplot into a film that didn't need it you know just because they

18:41cast a black actress doesn't necessarily mean that they have to automatically insert some racial

18:48subtext it just caught me off guard and i was just like wow and that's that's kind of woke you know

18:54i'm kind of not into that yeah i mean look at the state of hollywood like it is but we saw glimpses of

19:01it and it was right there and um it was unnecessary i mean let me just clarify this you can have the blonde

19:09girl bullying rochelle and have it all that but why go to the extreme of adding the racial subtext

19:18other than if you're just trying to you know make that trope of you know white people are racist white

19:24people are bad and look at the poor black victim i mean we see it's so many times it's done to death

19:30it's ridiculous you know it's why hollywood's in the state it is in it's in decline and um yeah as i said

19:37seeing it just caught me off guard and yeah the downside is there are elements of this film the

19:44craft that are indeed progressive and woke so ratings for the craft from 1996 i'm gonna be rating this

19:57movie a solid 5.5 out of 10 the craft from 1996 was a drama that really encapsulated that mid-90s

20:08aesthetic it was a film that explored many themes such as friendship and identity and i guess overall it

20:17was actually a lot darker than i expected as for the script i can't really praise it but then i can't

20:26really criticize it either i mean you know it was okay it was what it was but i guess the stronger

20:33aspect of the craft was the visual storytelling also after watching the craft i am kind of surprised

20:43that there was no initial follow-up you know to me it just seemed like yeah a perfect excuse for a

20:51sequel as the film was kind of left open-ended with that said i do remember the tv show charmed

20:59which basically was spawned off the back of the success of the craft so yeah there was no initial

21:06sequel that came out years after but uh still there was some witch related content that followed

21:13if you've seen the craft from 1996 then please let me know your thoughts and memories in the comment

21:21section below for all those who haven't this is a recommendation from me especially if you're a fan

21:28of the mid to late 90s films such as scream halloween h2o and even films like american pie and road trip

21:38i think if you like that kind of you know young adult kind of dramas then uh you'll get a kick

21:44out of the craft and well that's all from me today guys i do hope you've enjoyed this review of the

21:51craft from 1996 of course i'll be back next week with another cult movie review if you like what i do

21:59here please consider subscribing and of course take care

22:02you

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