Blessed Be. The Craft: Legacy Review

In 1996, I can recall being into the whole teen drama and horror genre. And at the time, I was heavy into Fairuza Balk. She epitomized the dark, mysterious, yet attractive look. And if you was a red blood American male, she was your girl. So naturally hearing that she would be be cast in a horror film, you didn't need to know what it was about, you went to see that movie.

So the trailer drops, and its everything you ever wanted. Ms. Balk,Robin Tunney, Rachel True, and Nev Campbell. And every young guy was instantly transfixed. What more could you ask for with this mid 90's movie?

Did I mention that they would be witches? #Winning #BeforeHashtagsWasAThing

It dabbled into everything from the occult, religion, racism, domestic violence, cutting, suicide, and  environmentalism among other things.

And so, it was a success! This  teen horror film helped catapult these core group of women into cult status. (pun intended)

Enter 2020 (also a pun)

After being in development hell and having tons of rewrites, and even a failed sequel, The Craft had finally made a return. 

Instead of having the same group of women, this film (The Craft: Legacy), stars  Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, Zoey Luna, Michelle Monaghan and David Duchovny. 

So what's it about and will you like it?

This film follows the original formula as 3 teenage witches in search of a fourth witch. Each girl has their issues but I feel like in this one, it focuses heavily on Spaeny's character, Lily almost exclusively. In the original, you got a sort of backstory that tells why each witch became who they are. 

Who would like it?

If you are a a fan of the original, for continuity purposes, nostalgia, and entertainment value, you will like this movie. There's an element of Carrie that you will quickly spot in the first portion of the movie. I'm not sure if this was intentional or by accident, this certainly has some Carrie Vibes to it.  I honestly love those elements. There are less magic spells in it, but the storyline it pretty tight. 

Things to consider:

There are scenes where the girls learn to mess with time and they stop time. Those scenes really play into the what the movie is about and show that these girls are a little more advanced than the original core group. 

This movie by critics has been considered as overly WOKE! But is it really?

Earlier, I highlighted everything that the original film tackled and since WOKE wasn't such a thing, it would have been considered by culturally conscience than Legacy. Regardless, this movie tackles things such as misogyny, homophobia, transgenderism, the body maturity of women, as well as cult life and broken families. Its a pretty deep movie.

I might get a bit of heat for this, but I do think the WOKENESS goes a bit overboard in the movie. I am well aware they this is typically a teen revenge movie, but we see the emasculation of a dude bro in this movie. Its almost unbearable. 

What do I mean by this? Without spoiling the movie, we see a guy go from being a macho jerk to being a beta male in this movie. If it were met with a bit more comedy, it could've come off like Kevin Nash's character in The Longest Yard remake. But it was meant to be semi-serious and it was just bad. 

Then there's a character who's transgender. The character being trans isn't the problem...entirely. The basis of the movie is 3 girls in search of the 4th to create a coven. Well, "witch" isn't a gender neutral term. And the basis of a coven is just that-Women. Basic science tells us that this is supposed to be natural born women. Not a trans character. Its amazing for a film that is super WOKE, it misses the basic building block for what's needed in the movie. But go figure.

One odd thing. This movie is supposed to be a 2020 movie, yet the girls dress like they are from 1996. I would have thought they would show how modern wiccans dress. However, I feel the filmmakers missed the mark on this.  

Things you might not know:

Fairuza Balk appears in the film. Yes, Nancy is back! I was turning backflips when she appeared. If you needed further motivation to watch this movie, that is it. 

Years ago, Balk played Dorothy in a movie entitled, Return to OZ. in 96, she would go on to play in a movie where she's a witch. In 2013-2014, Cailee Spaeny played the character Dorothy in a stage play of the Wizard of Oz, who later becomes a witch in the movie of the same title. Holy Deja Vu, Batman!

This movie is fan service  to those who were fans of the original movie and I think it serves as a nice transition for modern day audiences. 

We do have the game and magic effect, "Light as a feather, stiff as a board" performed just as in the original. And the line where David Duchovny tell the girls that they should be aware of the weirdos, fans of the original film gets to hear, "We are the weirdos, Mister" one more time. There will be a lot of call backs to the original film while being for the modern audience. I think both age groups will enjoy this movie, as they are setting us up for a sequel by the end. 

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