Lights, camera, action! Get ready to be terrified to your core in the long awaited sequel to Hocus Pocus after 29 years! 

 Hocus Pocus 2 follows three young teenagers (Becca, Izzy, and Cassie) who stumble upon an old magic shop and end up accidentally resurrecting the Sanderson sisters. The three witches become hellbent on gaining more power and enacting revenge on Salem. 

Winifred (one of the sisters) becomes all powerful but in doing so, loses her sisters. Becca, Izzy, and Cassie decide to cast a spell which reunites Winifred with her sisters in some sort of witch afterlife. Becca, Izzy, and Cassie ultimately become the new sanderson sisters however they are not driven by evil. 

Fans of Hocus Pocus around the world were eagerly waiting for the sequel but did it live up to their expectations? After speaking with sophomore Ryan Zollweg, while also researching others’ opinions, the answer is a bit in-between.

 The majority of online watchers concluded that the film did not live up to their expectations. Viewers who had watched the first one when it first came out were disappointed in the lack of sinister activities. In the newest film, witchcraft is described merely as magic while the original speaks of it as something profoundly evil. In researching, it became clear that the majority disliked Hocus Pocus 2. 

According to Ryan ___, the film was overall well developed and enjoyable. When asked if the lack of sinisterness made it less impelling, he explained that it definitely changed from the first one, but it was still a well done movie. 

“It was definitely less evil, but the ending was better than the first movie. I liked the idea that family comes before power,”Ryan said. 

However different the sequel was than the original, Hocus Pocus 2 is a movie worth watching and is streaming on Disney Plus.