THE CRAFT

(1996) One of my goals for 2018 is to watch a dozen films, each at least a decade old, that I have heard so much good stuff about over the years but have yet to see myself. The Craft is first up - about a high school girl named Sarah (Robin Tunney) who, with her own dark past, moves from San Francisco to Los Angeles with her dad and step-mom, where she attends a Catholic prep school and immediately falls under the spell of both the token skirt-chasing jock (Skeet Ulrich), as well as a trio of fellow female classmates - led by gothette Nancy (Fairuza Balk) - who may or may not be practicing witches. Turns out Nancy, along with Rochelle (Rachel True) and Bonnie (Neve Campbell, just prior to breaking to film stardom with Scream) are indeed spellcasters ... but it's only when Sarah, with her own supernatural gifts, completes their circle do the quartet realize their potential, when each of them casts a spell that actually ends up working (the womanizing jock falls in love, a bully gets payback, long-term permanent scars are miraculously healed). As the girls grow in both power and ego, and Nancy's own spell finally comes to fruition, it becomes apparent that anyone who crosses these ladies will pay - even someone within their own ranks. Even Sarah herself. The Craft is a funny, wicked little film that's a lot of fun to watch if willing to sort of shut off your brain and enjoy. Balk, a bit bananas as Nancy, reins her performance in just short enough to not come off as hamming it up, and it was really cool to see both Ulrich and Campbell together in a film pre-Scream, though their characters don't really interact on-screen here. The witchcraft comes a bit easy to these young gals, and a subplot involving the owner of a local occult store goes nowhere, but The Craft still somehow feels fresh over two decades later. Think a low-budget The Lost Boys, only with witches instead of vampires. (rated R)  7.5/10 stars