It’s like when making Hocus Pocus they told Bette Midler “this is camp just do whatever the fuck you want,” they told Sarah Jessica Parker that she could either drop acid or do a line of coke before every take but she had to do one, they told Kathy Najimy that her character is just an evil golden retriever, and then they told all the actors playing the kids that this was a very serious horror movie and if they didnt take all of this seriously they’d be in trouble
I think that's why it resonates so much with both kids and adults. To the kids, this seems like a Super Scary Movie -- I know I thought so the first time I saw it at like age 8. It had real stakes! It had villains who really did bad things! A little girl really died in the beginning! They were going make the parents dance until they DIED! This is way more serious than most movies I am allowed to watch! The campy elements actually read as kind of sinister when you're a child -- these evil witches being wildly over-the-top and unpredictable. And that's why it works, I think: because the scariness comes from the strangeness, not from something we might call genuine horror, the movie is okay for little kids to watch. And some of the camp genuinely does serve as comedic moments for the kids, to make sure the witches are TOO scary. Meanwhile, when you grow up, you're like "OMG this is hilarious look at this shit" -- all the stuff that seemed weird and strange and sinister when you were little now is vibrant and fun. Basically, as a child, you identify with the super serious children trying to survive a horror movie, and as an adult you identify with Kathy Najimy trying to ride a vaccuum cleaner because there are no brooms. Like, "My life is a mess, too, Kathy. We're all just making due. You and your sisters stay extra, okay?"
Happy Halloween, ya’ll!
