The 1996 horror movie The Craft is a brilliant and fresh look at teenage girls who are also witches. Starring Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Skeet Ulrich, and Rachel True, the story follows Sarah Bailey (Tunney) as she moves to a new town and doesn't care about fitting in. The film became a cult hit and it makes sense that there was interest in a reboot.
The Craft: Legacy was released from Blumhouse Productions in 2020 and the story has the same bones as the original as an interesting teenage girl moves to a new town and falls in with a group of witches. But while there's still much to enjoy about the original film, there are some smart changes that make The Craft: Legacy a better horror film than The Craft.
The Craft is a cult favorite and stands out among the most underrated '90s horror films. While The Craft is an intelligent and scary film, and countless horror fans enjoy rewatching it regularly, there's something special about The Craft: Legacy. The new movie feels more fun, entertaining, and fresh because it's less dark and disturbing but still explores the same important topic of not wanting to fit in or be cool. When Lily (Cailee Spaeny) is the new girl in town, Frankie (Gideon Aldon), Lourdes (Zoey Luna), and Tabby (Lovie Simone) want her to be their fourth, much like Nancy (Balk), Bonnie (Campbell) and Rochelle (True) are interested in exploring witchcraft with Sarah.
The Craft: Legacy is inclusive, with trans actress Zoey Luna playing the character of Lourdes and Zoe Lister-Jones, who wrote and directed the film, talked to Scott Turner Schofield and GLAAD. As Luna explained in an interview with The Wrap, “All of the women that were so aware and educated before even meeting me is what made the set feel so safe, getting to work with these women that are just very intelligent and aware of their own feelings, helped them be aware of my feelings and my boundaries."
In both movies, the main characters are up there with the best movie witches. It's the way that The Craft: Legacy treats magical powers and also dating that makes this movie work better than the original. In The Craft, Sarah wants Chris (Ulrich) to fall in love with her, but the spell goes wrong when he becomes so obsessed with her that she fears for her safety and maybe even her life. Bonnie's scars go away and she's conventionally beautiful but she's too conceited, Rachel torments the popular girl and ruins her life, and Nancy gets rich and away from her mom's abusive partner but she gets a big head. While it's compelling to watch these stories unfold, the message of "be careful what you wish for" makes them feel a bit expected. In The Craft: Legacy, the main characters cast a spell on Timmy (Nicholas Galitzine) to make him more compassionate and understanding. While this spell still ends up in disaster as Timmy is killed, this idea is so unique that it stands out in the horror genre.
Lily, Frankie, Lourdes, and Tabby feel like a more cohesive friend group than the four main characters in The Craft. This is partly because in the original movie, Sarah doesn't seem to care much about having friends. She's a loner who enjoys doing what she pleases and she isn't searching for that love and connection. Lily, on the other hand, enjoys being part of something bigger than herself and genuinely forms a bond with the other three girls, which helps this film stand out. When they learn that Lily's stepfather Adam (David Duchovny) killed Timmy, they work together to beat him, which is thrilling to watch and also very meaningful. It's not often that there's a heartwarming friendship story wrapped up in a scary movie but that's definitely part of The Craft: Legacy and it's nice that there's some compassion along with the terrifying scenes.
Another way that The Craft: Legacy is a better movie than The Craft is the ending. Rochelle and Bonnie don't have their witch powers anymore and Nancy is now in a mental hospital, saying that she can fly but knowing that no one is listening to her. Sarah can still perform magic, but she's alone now as she's finished with her former friends. The conclusion of The Craft: Legacy is much more compelling and powerful: the four girls become friends again and Lily meets her mom, Nancy from the original film. This is a fun discovery that works as well as the best horror movie plot twists and makes it hard not to praise all the ways that the new movie takes a fresh approach to a story about witches.