Film

Hocus Pocus 2

Name: Hocus Pocus 2
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy
Released: 2022
Cast: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo

The Sanderson sisters are back, bigger wigs, bigger musical number, same gleeful camp. This sequel trades the original's scrappy charm for slicker effects and a nostalgia-heavy plot, but Midler, Parker and Najimy clearly relish playing off each other again. It's a cosy, low-stakes Halloween watch aimed squarely at grown-up fans of the first film and the kids they're now showing it to.

TMDb rating

7.1

If you liked this

Hocus Pocus1993

The original, and honestly still the better film — scrappier, meaner, funnier, with the same three witches at their most gleefully unhinged. Essential prep or comfort rewatch.

But You've presumably seen it a dozen times already; there's no surprise left in it.

Beetlejuice1988

Burton at his most anarchic — a ghoulish comedy with the same gleeful, slightly grotesque sense of humour and a supernatural menace who's more fun than the living.

But Weirder and more visually chaotic than Hocus Pocus 2; younger kids may find some of it genuinely unsettling.

Practical Magic1998

Witchy sisters, small-town New England, curses and comedy tangled together with real warmth — Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman make an appealing pair of witches to root for.

But Tonally uneven, swinging between romance, comedy and melodrama in a way that doesn't always land.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

I Married a Witch1942

The same engine — wronged witches from Salem's past resurrected to seek revenge on the present — played as breezy 1940s screwball rather than modern family comedy.

A screwball comedy about a Salem witch, burned centuries earlier, resurrected to torment the descendant of the man who condemned her — funny, fast, and startlingly close to Hocus Pocus 2's own premise, forty years before it existed.

But Black-and-white 1940s pacing and humour will feel formal and slow next to modern comedy rhythms.

Hubie Halloween2020no page yet

Adam Sandler goofing around a small town obsessed with Halloween, stuffed with cameos and silly sight gags — pure comfort-viewing energy in the same spirit as the Sandersons' antics.

But It's broad, silly Sandler comedy through and through; if that's not your taste, this won't convert you.

Halloweentown1998no page yet

A Disney Channel classic about a girl discovering her family's witch heritage — cheap, cheerful, and exactly the kind of low-stakes magic the Hocus Pocus films trade in.

But Very much a made-for-TV production; the effects and acting are charmingly, obviously budget.

The Addams Family1991

Gorgeously gothic, sharply written, and gleefully macabre — a family comedy that finds real wit in embracing the creepy and kooky rather than fighting it.

But Its humour is drier and more deadpan than the broad slapstick of Hocus Pocus 2.

Casper1995no page yet

A friendly ghost, a haunted house, and a surprising amount of heart under the '90s effects — good family Halloween viewing with real sweetness.

But Dated CGI and a slower pace than modern kids used to quicker comedy might expect.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina2018

Teen witches, coven politics and Satanic-panic style horror-comedy — a soapier, spookier cousin to the Sanderson sisters' world with real bite.

But Considerably darker and more horror-leaning than Hocus Pocus 2's family-friendly tone.

The Witches1990

Roald Dahl's tale of child-hating witches, played with genuine menace by Anjelica Huston — funny, but with teeth, and gorgeously grotesque puppetry.

But Actually frightening in places; younger or more sensitive kids may find it too much.

The Witch2016

Same era, same folklore, same isolated New England setting — but where Hocus Pocus 2 plays witchcraft for laughs, this plays it as the terror it was meant to be.

Robert Eggers' slow-burn horror strips away every ounce of cosiness from colonial New England witchcraft, replacing camp with dread and folklore played dead seriously — genuinely unsettling filmmaking.

But Bleak, austere and frightening rather than fun — this is the opposite of a family Halloween watch.

ParaNorman2012

An almost identical structure — teens racing against a deadline to undo a centuries-old curse from a witch trial — rendered in painstaking stop-motion with real grief underneath the jokes.

A stop-motion animated tale of a small town cursed by a witch trial centuries earlier, forcing kids to stop the resurrected dead before dawn — gorgeous, funny, and unexpectedly melancholy underneath the ghoulishness.

But Handmade stop-motion animation and a darker emotional undercurrent than the glossy live-action comedy you'd expect.