Hocus Pocus

The movie opens in 1693 Salem, Massachusetts where three witch sisters — Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson — transformed a boy, Thackery Binx, into an immortal black cat as punishment for trying to prevent them from absorbing the life force of his younger sister, Emily. He is too late to rescue her and instead is cursed to spend eternity as a black cat. The witches are tried and executed by the locals. However, thanks to a curse created by Winifred's magic spell-book, they vow to return when a virgin lights the Black Flame candle on a Halloween night when the moon is full.

Three hundred years later in 1993, Max Dennison (Omri Katz), a skeptical teenager from Los Angeles, moves to Salem with his family and younger sister Dani (Thora Birch). On his way home from school, he meets the local bullies Ernie "Ice" (Larry Bagby) and Jay who tease him, then steal Max's Nike sneakers. After being forced to take Dani trick or treating, Max lights the Black-flamed Candle at the Sanderson house with Dani and his love interest Allison (Vinessa Shaw) present, bringing the witches back from the dead. However, the kids manage to escape from the witches along with the black cat (Binx) who can now talk, and Max steals Winifred's magic spell book. In an attempt to get the book back, the witches chase the kids to the local graveyard where Winifred resurrects Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), Winifred's previous unfaithful partner. He is sent to chase the kids across town. The witches also reveal that in order to remain alive and young, they must steal the "life force" of a child before the sun rises and Halloween night ends

The witches experience some 20th century antics, including riding a bus, discovering paved roads, and finding themselves in a Halloween party. They also meet a man who they believe is their master, Satan, but they are thrown out of his house by his wife, who they think is Medusa, because of the curlers in her hair. (The couple was played by well-known director/producer Garry Marshall and his sister, actress/director Penny Marshall.)

Max, Dani, Allison, and Binx go to the town hall Halloween party where they find Max's parents. Max takes the stage in an attempt to warn the families that their children are in danger, telling them that the Sanderson sisters were back from the grave. The audience laughs it off as a prank while Winifred steps on stage and thanks him for his "introduction". Taking over the stage, the witches perform a spell disguised as a Broadway-esque performance of I Put A Spell On You, highlighting Midler's musical talent, to cause all of the adults to "dance, dance, dance 'till you die!".

Max and the others lure the witches into the high school and trick them into entering a kiln, where they appear to burn to death. However, the witches cannot die (they have yet to absorb life-force, nor has the sun risen yet). The witches attempt to find the children. The Sisters come up as Mary sniffs out Max’s shoe, only Max’s shoes are worn by Ice. Mary comes up and sniffs the shoe. The witches return to their cottage, taking Jay and Ice with them and locking them in cages. The witches believe that they are doomed because they are unable to make the life-potion without the book, until they spot the light from the magic book, coming from Max's house as Max and Allison tried to find a means of removing Binx's curse. The witches kidnap Dani and Binx. They escape via a new gaping hole blown in the side of Max's home.

Sarah flies across Salem, utilizing a siren-song to lure all of the town's children to their cottage. Max and Allison fool Winifred, Mary and Sarah with threats of Daylight Savings Time (and some headlights) and retrieve Dani and Binx. Max reaches up and takes his shoes off of Ice’s feet, leaving him shoeless and Ice bursts into tears. They retreat to the graveyard, but not before destroying the witches' newest batch of potion. There is still enough for one child however, and Winifred decides that she will make Dani her victim. Max helps Billy, who, after cutting open the stitches over his mouth, reveals himself to be friendly and helps the others protect Dani. A battle begins: Dani is captured by Winifred, who tries to feed her the potion, but Binx forces her to drop it, and she throws him onto a rock, knocking him out. In order to save Dani, Max drinks the potion himself, forcing Winifred to take him instead of her. Meanwhile Allison and Billy incapacitate Sarah and Mary, and after a struggle, Max manages to bring Winifred down from her broom, forcing her onto holy ground, which causes her to turn to stone. Mary and Sarah sadly bid farewell and explode to dust when the sun rises, and Winifred's petrified form soon follows. Billy returns to his grave, but the three kids discover Binx dead (the immortality spell had ceased its duration with the death of the Sanderson sisters, and he was 317 years old). Dani is distraught, since she had formed a bond with him. His spirit appears and thanks the children for breaking his curse, then walks away into the sunrise with the freed soul of his sister, Emily.

During the credits we see the exhausted adults leaving the Halloween party, no longer under the dancing curse. Jay and Ice are seen still trapped in their cages and then the spell book's eye opens and looks around. However, what this means is left to the interpretation of the viewer.