Have you all heard the word 'mockbuster?'
For those who haven't, 'mockbuster' is a term applied to a current or forthcoming potential blockbuster, one that hopes to capitalize on the hype another studio has created in order to reap some benefits resulting from a confused audience seeing a knock-off when they believe they're seeing the real thing. While there are a handful of small(ish) studios who currently specialize in such efforts, I'm going to avoid naming names in order to -- ahem -- protect the guilty.
In any event, 1996 saw a film released under the title of The Craft that generated a bit of buzz by casting four attractive young actresses in the guise of a coven of witches infiltrating a Catholic prep school. Though I don't know anyone personally who thoroughly loved the film, I'm aware that it perseveres even today in boasting a small cult following probably owed more to sensationalizing these lovely tweenies in delicious Gothic attire. When everybody loves a bad boy, what's a bad girl to do? Why, they'll go about exacting retribution by way of learning how to cast spells and such. That's basically what you get with The Craft as I understand it.
Well, because industry trades tried to paint a picture of The Craft performing greater than the sum of its -- ahem -- lady parts, imitators did try to deliver a little something similar: 1996's Little Witches didn't get a theatrical run (from all research I've been able to conduct) but did hit home video stores shelves in roughly the same timeframe and with a somewhat similar advertising hook. Witches cast a bevy of young heartbreakers in key roles -- many of which who according to IMDB.com got out of the business not long after appearing in this one -- and dressed them up to look like Catholic school girls to the delight of sex fetishists everywhere (I've heard).
For those who haven't, 'mockbuster' is a term applied to a current or forthcoming potential blockbuster, one that hopes to capitalize on the hype another studio has created in order to reap some benefits resulting from a confused audience seeing a knock-off when they believe they're seeing the real thing. While there are a handful of small(ish) studios who currently specialize in such efforts, I'm going to avoid naming names in order to -- ahem -- protect the guilty.
In any event, 1996 saw a film released under the title of The Craft that generated a bit of buzz by casting four attractive young actresses in the guise of a coven of witches infiltrating a Catholic prep school. Though I don't know anyone personally who thoroughly loved the film, I'm aware that it perseveres even today in boasting a small cult following probably owed more to sensationalizing these lovely tweenies in delicious Gothic attire. When everybody loves a bad boy, what's a bad girl to do? Why, they'll go about exacting retribution by way of learning how to cast spells and such. That's basically what you get with The Craft as I understand it.
Well, because industry trades tried to paint a picture of The Craft performing greater than the sum of its -- ahem -- lady parts, imitators did try to deliver a little something similar: 1996's Little Witches didn't get a theatrical run (from all research I've been able to conduct) but did hit home video stores shelves in roughly the same timeframe and with a somewhat similar advertising hook. Witches cast a bevy of young heartbreakers in key roles -- many of which who according to IMDB.com got out of the business not long after appearing in this one -- and dressed them up to look like Catholic school girls to the delight of sex fetishists everywhere (I've heard).
Alas, I've not seen this one, and there's very little information online regarding its overall production and/or reception. What I have read, however, has been a bit unkind, with many suggestions hinting that producers wanted it to be even more depraved sexually than it might exist in its current form. There are even some indications that director Jane Simpson and its stars have kinda/sorta disowned all of it, never a good thing to hear about anything that was fast-tracked on the heels of another picture's potential reputation.
Whatever the case, methinks it's best to consider this one under the adage of 'Buyer Beware.'
As always, thanks for reading ... thanks for sharing ... thanks for being a fan ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
Whatever the case, methinks it's best to consider this one under the adage of 'Buyer Beware.'
As always, thanks for reading ... thanks for sharing ... thanks for being a fan ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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