The Craft (1996)

Neve Campbell would have two big movies in 1996. One you all know very well in Scream. The other came earlier in the year, with The Craft. It was a sleeper hit revolving around four teen girls turning to witchcraft to wipe away their perceived flaws. But they all learn there are consequences. Ms. Campbell isn’t the lead here, Fairuza Balk and Robin Tunney were the bigger names at the time, before Scream turned Ms. Campbell into a box office star. Her future Scream co-star Skeet Ulrich plays a key role here. It’s such a mid-90s movie, down to the soundtrack, which studios thought was key to any success with younger viewers. It’s very much a film 2026 audiences would embrace, especially with the landscape of horror movies now. The Craft may have been 30 years too early even. It would fit right in with Obsession and Back Rooms. In 1996, it was playing into the darkening Gen-X mindset taking hold at the box office. Which critics at the time could not come to terms with. It’s also another example of the split between critical and audience success. Perhaps the main difference if it were made today would be how witchcraft is portrayed. In the mid-90s, even in Practical Magic, there was something to be feared about witches. It might have even been more about empowering women and an America not quite ready yet for Grrl Power. In 2026, you would get the feeling there would be more nobility built into tapping into unseen forces. You also wonder how much the ending might be changed if made now. As it stands, if you have never caught The Craft, you should conjure it up sometime.