This is the 1996 cult film about witchcraft. Directed and Written by Andrew Fleming. It stars Fairuza Balk as Nancy; Robin Tunney as Sarah; Neve Campbell as Bonnie; Rachel True as Rochelle, and Skeet Ulrich as Chris.

The story: Sarah, a sweet looking girl, moves into town. Her High School proves to be difficult when her first date with a local boy named Chris, ends up with him lying about her to all his friends who respond by teasing her. Further, she is basically invisible with the female population until she is approached by three girls who are more unpopular than she is.

The girls want her to join their coven of witches so their number will be four they tell her. One for each directional point. They show her their magical powers to entice her and we see levitation, clouds of butterflies, telekinesis, and all sorts of supernatural things.

Sarah agrees and each girl begins to use their increased magical powers for revenge on their school mates. Sarah goes first and puts a love spell on Chris that changes his bad behavior towards her into love sickness. But the other girl’s revenge goes much farther, and Sarah begins to realize that the girls are using their powers for evil reasons. Especially Nancy, who appears to be slipping into madness as her powers increase.

All performances were convincing, but special mention goes to Fairuza Balk. She plays the lead witch with such passion that it’s so startlingly excellent you won’t be able to forget it. This movie is a fun watch and makes a good addition to your Halloween collection.

The new girl that tried to kill herself, Robin Tunney, the Goth girl with the messed up family, Fairuza Balk, the girl with medical problems, Neve Campbell, and the only black girl at school, Rachel True, venture into witchcraft to right their wrongs. Rachel wants revenge against a racist girl by having her hair fall out while Neve wants all the scars that cover her back to disappear. At first it’s about female empowerment but then it goes wrong.

When the girls turn bad that’s when things go off the tracks. The explanation is thin and seems done by the writers to just create a conflict for the climax of the movie. It seemed contrived and predictable. The very end saves things but still the writing took a real left turn.
C

This review applies to the "regular" bluray (ASIN B0024FAG3A). Looks and sounds great - and about $15 cheaper than the (overkill?) "collectors edition."

Equal parts goofy and entertaining, though it's not without witty satire and scares. Indeed, the writer subsequently went on to write and/or direct the first iteration of Arrested Development and the terrific comedy, Hamlet 2 (which is not as well known as it should be).

I was in my early 20s when this was released; it was a nostalgic kick to revisit.

Fun flick - especially the fetching/ wicked Grrrl, Fairuza Balk. (Actually, the entire coven would qualify as fetching...)

My daughter dug it; I imagine it'll be a perennial cult fave.

Classic 1990's coming of age drama with a witch theme.

The Craft (1996) is like The Crow (1994) with witches. It's an absolute dark delight. The 90's grungy aesthetic, practical effects, beautiful cuts, goth girls, intimate close ups, dark themes, and innovative camera ideas fill the screen much to my pleasure.

Speaking of The Crow, The Craft utilizes the same composer, Graeme Revell, whose alternative rock work graces the sorrow and scares alike to great effect. His sad teenage sounds elevate the high school drama and bring you right into the 90's.

The highlight of The Craft is certainly the cast for the youthful coven of witches. The Craft features classic 1990's leading ladies. They carry every scene with a realism for the time. Fairuza Balk is the head witch Nancy with goth outfits and make-up to spare. Her portrayal of depression, anger, and insanity is just simply a joy to watch her act. Robin Tunney delivers her finest acting ever as the lead Sarah. Tunney is pretty, likable, depressed, and devious simultaneously. She nails Sarah. Neve Campbell plays the dejected Bonnie without confidence over her terrible burn scars. Lastly, Rachel True is excellent as Rochelle with her uncertainty and strength. They all kill their respective role.

In all, The Craft is now my favorite movie with witches. It's fun, funny, and horrifying all at the same time. You care about these girls as they struggle to cope with high school, bullies, poverty, trauma, depression, boys, and friendship. The Craft is equal parts coming of age drama and witch themed horror in all its 90's glory.

The seller was able to send me a used, but playable copy of this Special Edition (unlike the one I had bought previously). Anyway, the extras that come with it are fun, consisting of interviews with the writer, director and principle players, a director's commentary, an isolated music score and the trailers. A word about the director's commentary - I found that most of what he mentioned was already covered in the interviews, which disappointed me. Since 2016 was the 20th anniversary of the film, several news outlets like HuffPo have articles and interviews which are much more in-depth.

One of my favorite 90’s films. It doesn’t mince words. I love the theme of the outcasts winning, and ultimately loosing it all. Great concept. You reap what you sow.

As a horror fan this movie is a must have in a collection. Most of us are prone to want the boutique label versions but in this case save yourself the bucks and snatch this release up instead. Scream Factory seemed to have put no work into it's scan of The Craft and given that it costs way more than this it just doesn't seem worth it. Here we get a good transfer and the sound is on par with the SF version all for a fraction of the price. It only has commentary as a feature but, hell, the movie is what's important here. Great disc, great presentation, and a great movie.

The movie has a before and after structure to it. Before magick, my parents and classmates had me down and after when I got even. Then there is a finale that has some of the magick working wonderfully, like gene therapy and teaching racists a lesson, but love spells and Invoking The Spirit are heavy duty magick spells. Neither can apparently be undone and must run it's disastrous course. The finale has an attempted rape avenged by one of the witches. Then there is a showdown between the good witch and the bad witch in which the good witch wins and the bad witch ends up in a mental hospital. Don't you love a happy ending?

The Special Edition of The Craft contains some interesting trivia and interviews about the making of The Craft and some deleted scenes. The deleted scenes actually would've really added something to the movie. The deleted scenes include Bonnie in the hospital and begging Sarah to perform magick on her because she believes the doctors will be unable to cure her. Another deleted scene has Nancy overhearing Sarah trying to convince other three to perform a "binding" on her. When Nancy happens to emerge from around the corner she reminds the others of their misfit status and tells them off with finality especially Sarah. The other deleted scene has Nancy "throwing a glamour" that make it appear that she has stabbed Sarah in the stomach and that she has begun bleeding but "it's only magic".
If you like this movie then this will be fun and interesting and even scary at times. If you didn't like this won't change your mind. I would've like more scenes like the deleted ones which provided some depth to the story and it's characters.