The Film
At a new school Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney) becomes friends with three outcasts and soon becomes the fourth in their witches circle. The Craft is as much about witchcraft as it is about girls at an oppressive Catholic prep school discovering themselves and how cliques can be a cruel fact of life in teenage years. A feminine film at its core, it's surprising that it was written by, produced, and directed by three men. As the movie ages, the mid-1990's flick shows its masculine hand. Some scenes seem less and less authentic. But maybe that's a magical sleight of hand too?
The Picture
The Craft suffers from its age such that even some hocus-pocus doesn't do much to improve the focus. The 1.85:1 1080p presentation appears washed out and some scenes with special effects such as when Sarah "glamours" herself from a brunette to a blonde look less than realistic in HD. But maybe the magic of high definition doesn't translate to magic of the Wiccan variety. Still, the picture could use something in the way of spells. The skin tones look like witchcraft intervened rather than natural, but we can't tell if the girls are just being a bit Goth. However, some special effects, such as an isolated electrical storm while the witches perform pagan ceremonies, continue to impress.
If one quality of The Craft should need to stand through time it's probably the sound. Not simply a dialog film, the use of magic means events happen in front, from the rear, and sometimes snakes or explosions approach from the sides. The Blu-ray disc generally delivers the effects, though not always to the potential expected from its DTS HD Master Audio sound. There is just not enough dynamic punch with these effects and the results make it seem more like smoke and mirrors.
Additionally, the film would fall short if it weren't for its musical soundtrack with songs from Love Spit Love, Jewel, Juliana Hatfield, Letters to Cleo, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and other memorable artists of the mid 90s era. Given these tunes it is sort of like a great extended length 90s music video.
The Extras
The extras are a little thin for the movie. They include a director's commentary, a newly created featurette, an original "behind the scenes" piece, and deleted scenes. The two featurettes about the making of the movie provide insight from the writer Peter Filardi, director Andrew Fleming, and producer Douglas Wick as well as the lead actress Robin Tunney. There's not much more to the extras however, and it might have been interesting to include a book on some of the Wiccan spells used in the film, or some other bonus material that would have added value without too much work. But it wasn't as if someone could just snap their fingers and make it happen!
It's in the interviews where you realize the creators of this feminine film were all male, and start to wonder why they're into four teenage girls, and witchcraft. Other fun facts are also revealed, including that Robin Tunney's hair was cut to an inch long when she auditioned because of her previous project Empire Records. It was actress Rachel True that confirmed that as the girls' powers grew through the course of the movie, the skirts on their parochial school uniforms got shorter. Magic indeed!
Final Thoughts
As an updated version of The Craft, the Blu-ray doesn't add as much as it could. The picture and sound don't offer enough enhancement to warrant the upgrade to Blu-ray, and the lack of special features does little to help the case. Sure, it's an incremental improvement over the DVD, but a totally wicked package this one is not.
Product Details
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