It’s been a good while since there was any news on Blumhouse’s sequel-reboot of beloved ‘90s teen-witch horror The Craft – but with Halloween around the corner and the witching hour approaching, the first trailer has just arrived along with a near-imminent release date. Set in the present day, the film takes place in the same universe as the original, with writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones assembling a new coven who activate their magical abilities together to take on the bullies – and get far more than they bargained for. Watch the trailer here.
Whether or not fans of the original will get on board with a Gen-Z re-do, there are plenty of nods there back to Andrew Fleming’s film – notably the Polaroid pic of Fairuza Balk’s Nancy Downs, that iconic incantation (‘light as a feather, stiff as a board’), and a repetition of the most noteworthy line from the original: “We are the weirdos, mister”. But as for what’s new, there’s some great casting here – new-girl Hannah is played by Cailee Spaeny, who’s put in great performances in Bad Times At The El Royale, Alex Garland’s Devs, and Pacific Rim: Uprising. Then you have David Duchovny and Michelle Monaghan as her parents, and other members of the coven including Blockers’ Gideon Adlon, Selah And The Spades’ Lovie Simone, and up-and-comer Zoey Luna.
There isn’t long to wait to see whether The Craft: Legacy can sit proudly alongside the original – it’s out just before Halloween, coming to cinemas in the UK on 28 October, and getting a VOD release in the US and Canada on the same date.