The Craft (Collectors Edition) (DVD)

...heard of 'The Craft' and the video belonged to my mate's big sister. We were only 11 and at the time the film was very scary and unnerving, now however I find it quite silly but still good.

THE PLOT
---------------
The film is directed by Andre Fleming in 1996, starting Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell Rachel True and Fairuza Balk.

The film starts with Sarah (Robin Tunney) who moves to Los Angeles from San ...
...True). They teach Sarah about the art of witchcraft. They manage to 'invoke the spirit' and strange things start to happen. They all have certain things they wish to change, Sarah wants the captain of the football team, Chris (Skeet Ulrich) to love her, Bonnie wants to get rid of the horrible scars on her body and be more beautiful, Rochelle wishes that those who hate and bully her to know what it feels like but Nancy wishes for 'all of the power ... more

I first saw this film at a friend's house. We had a girly sleepover and a few of us childishly tried to do some witchcraft afterwards…obviously with little success! I had never heard of 'The Craft' and the video belonged to my mate's big sister. We were only 11 and at the time the film was very scary and unnerving, now however I find it quite silly but still good.

THE PLOT
---------------
The film is directed by Andre Fleming in 1996, starting Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell Rachel True and Fairuza Balk.

The film starts with Sarah (Robin Tunney) who moves to Los Angeles from San Francisco. She starts at St Benedict's and meets three new friends Bonnie (Neve Campbell), Nancy (Fairuza Balk) and Rochelle (Rachel True). They teach Sarah about the art of witchcraft. They manage to 'invoke the spirit' and strange things start to happen. They all have certain things they wish to change, Sarah wants the captain of the football team, Chris (Skeet Ulrich) to love her, Bonnie wants to get rid of the horrible scars on her body and be more beautiful, Rochelle wishes that those who hate and bully her to know what it feels like but Nancy wishes for 'all of the power of Manon'.

Not long after they start to get what they wished for Chris is mad for Sarah and his love soon becomes a scary obsession…it was fun at first but soon becomes quite dangerous. Bonnie's scars disappear and she starts to feel and look more beautiful. Rochelles bully, Laura starts to lose her hair and everyone seems happy. Nancy on the other hand starts to wonder if she will get her wish. When she returns home to the trailer park she causes her dad to have a heart attack and later find out her had a huge insurance payout and they can live in a huge apartment.

After the success Nancy decided to get a book on 'Invoking the Spirit' and takes things a little to far. Nancy is struck by lightning during a huge storm. The next day the girls wake up to see Nancy walking on water and lots of dead sharks over the beach.

Sarah soon begin to question the magic and rather concerned about the damage they are causing distances herself from them. They soon become her enemies and start killing others to get what they want. The three girls hurt and upset a lot of people…can Sarah protect her father and those around her…or is it too late?

MY VERDICT
--------------------
The film is very easy to follow and requires little mental effort. I really like films I can sit down to and not have to use a brain to work out each scene. The Craft is a film that is easy to get into and follow throughout. I also find that it's a film I can watch over and over again without getting bored, which is often the case with 'unchallenging' films.

I thought this film was very scary when I was younger the cockroaches and snakes really scared me. In fact I had nightmares for several nights after watching it so it clearly had an effect. Today however I find the film a lot easier to watch without having nightmares or hiding behind cushions.

The film is quite psychologically upsetting more than scary; I hated the thought that someone could haunt dreams like that and know about it. The film still has that feeling where my heart skips a beat in some places and for me that is great. It shows that a film does not have to be very violent or gruesome to hold a viewers attention and interest.

I thought Nancy - Fairuza Balk made this film the others acted well and gave a believable performance but Balk was a cut above the rest. She played an extraordinary role and her 'crazy', 'psycho' attitude was very believable. In fact it was Balks performance that made the film scary and changed the film from a 'teen flick' to a horror movie.

Robin Tunney - Sarah was an excellent contrast in her role as a shy, retiring and troubled teen. She played some of the 'scariest' scenes brilliantly with super execution and believable sorrow. I really felt sorry for her when she realised her dad had been killed in a plane crash caused by Nancy. This was one point in the film where my heart sank and seemed to skip a beat I felt a lump in my throat and this was due to the excellent and believable performance of Tunney.

I can imagine most teens sitting down to watch the film and getting so obsessed with witchcraft that they try to recreate the spell. It is one of those films that would appeal to a diverse section of viewers. I watched this with my partner a few weeks ago and he was quite into it and I was quite surprised about this as he tends to dislike teen flicks. Although I think he was enjoying the girls in short skirts and school uniform.

The soundtrack was nothing special to be quite honest; I didn't get a certain feel with the soundtrack as I would with most films. The music didn't seem to jump out at all and merged with the film.

THE DVD
--------------
The DVD is in Dolby so some of the effects such as the storm sound very good with 5:1 speakers. I feel that films where the effect of being surrounded by background sounds creates a believable atmosphere. The DVD has a number of extra features such as deleted scenes, a directors commentary and details of how the film was made. These features are quite interesting to look at especially when I found out that the snakes and creepies were real…arrrggghhh!

THE FILM
---------------
Director: Andrew Fleming
Duration: 97 minutes
Certification: 14
Studio: Sony Pictures

AVAILABILITY
----------------------
I did have a few problems finding this on DVD in high streets stores although Virgin did say they would order it in at a ridiculous price. I managed to get mine of Amazon for £4.13 although it is now available for £3.97 (Collectors Edition) or on Play.com (£5 including delivery).

I have heard that there will be a sequel 'Craft 2' but it will go straight to DVD in 2008. Whether or not this is the case or not I am not sure. I did think when I saw the film that it was left open to a sequel.

*** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED *** 

...less