Welcome to the Legion!

7 reasons why Practical Magic is the best Halloween movie

Halloween week is here! This month marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Practical Magic, a film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witchy sisters trying to navigate life, love, parenthood, and dead boyfriends in small-town New England. Based on the book of the same name by gifted author Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic is a 90s staple and the perfect thing to watch for both Halloween and an extra dose of girl power.

1.   The Delightful Cast

Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest play The Aunts, sisters who take in Sally (Bullock) and Gillian (Kidman) following the death of their parents when they are small girls. The girls are thus raised in a “spooky, twisting house” where local women come by in the evenings for potions or charms. The aunts are also witches, and their gifts have been passed on to Sally and Gillian. Gillian embraces her magical side, but Sally longs to be “normal.”

Other notables include a very young Evan Rachel Wood as Sally’s oldest daughter and Goran Visnjic (ER, Timeless) as Jimmy, Gillian’s abusive ex-boyfriend turned evil ghost haunting the sisters.

2.   Bewitching Ancestry

As a devotee of the book well in advance of the film, I enjoyed the backstory on Maria Owens immensely. She is heavily discussed in the book and the opening monologue describing her arrival and subsequent persecution is the perfect foundation from which to launch the story. Owens women are unlucky in love, and they have their ancestor’s spell to thank for that unfortunate trait.

3.  #MeToo before #MeToo

Gillian has a habit of choosing awful men as lovers, and we all have a friend or family member who seems to pick nothing but jerks. Jimmy is the baddest of them all – in the book, Gillian arrives at Sally’s door covered in bruises. In the movie, Jimmy is also physically violent, hits Gillian, and it is clear that he’s an abuser on many levels. When he drops dead during Sally and Gillian’s escape, the sisters need to figure out how to ditch the body. Absolutely no one is sad that Jimmy is gone.

4.  That dark romantic set

The aunts’ house with its rambling greenhouse and garden, where Sally and her girls live after Sally’s husband dies, is the perfect place for this tale of the perils of messing with life and death. Perched on a cliff and designed to resemble a gothic Victorian mansion, the production team went all-out to construct a multi-generational stronghold. The house is the focus of the action, from Sally’s letters to Gillian to Jimmy’s dead body in the backyard to midnight margaritas.

5.  Unexpected funny moments

Gillian decides to accompany Sally to a PTA meeting, where she struts in like she’s walking down a runway, instructing the pearl-clutching moms to lock up their husbands. She uses her powers in small but funny ways, lending a nice touch of humor that the book lacked.

6.  Love spells galore!

Love spells: when a sheriff (Aiden Quinn, the picture of wholesome rugged manhood) comes looking for Jimmy, he and Sally hit it off. Gillian just wants to get rid of him, so she concocts a potion to drive him away. Sally’s daughters, seeing how their mom is taken with him, runs off with the potion, throwing it over the cliff into the water. Maybe Sally can break the family curse! (Spoiler alert: she does.)

7.  Sisterhood is sacred

My favorite part (which doesn’t happen in the book) is when all the pearl-clutching moms come to Sally and Gillian’s aid to vanquish Jimmy’s ghost. Even though they excluded Sally and their children taunt Sally’s girls, they decide to put their pettiness aside in a time of need.

I always enjoy when a movie lives up to a fantastic book – a rare instance indeed. Even with a number of changes, the movie manages to capture the book’s mystical spirit while also remaining a stellar example of an all-female lead cast. Hoffman recently released a prequel entitled “The Rules of Magic,” a deep dive into the aunts’ past and their own family relationships that I completely loved. I hope someone in Hollywood is on top of it and gives Hoffman many, many dollars to make “The Rules of Magic” into a movie. If you don’t want to wait for that, I suggest you grab a copy and indulge in a cozy fall night with your book, a cup of tea, and perhaps a bewitching cat by your side.

Buy Zyban online
buy furosemide
Buy Zithromax online

 

About author View all posts Author website

Amy Imhoff

Amy Imhoff is a writer and editor who blogs at Shoes and Starships, a geek lifestyle blog that specializes in genre fandom, pop culture, travel, fashion, and feminism. She is a featured convention panelist, podcast contributor, and interviewer. Amy has her masters in literature, enjoys a slightly unhealthy obsession with all things British, and likes to sniff old books. Amy is based outside NYC, where she lives with her husband and two silly cats. Find her freaking out about X-Files and Star Trek @lightstar1013