May 9 - 16, 1 9 9 6

The Craft

Offering teenage witches wearing gooey red lipstick and see-through (nipples!) Catholic-school uniforms, some minor sex and violence, and lots of bugs, snakes, and creepy-crawly things thrown in for good measure, The Craft could be a prepubescent boy's dream film. If you're old enough to drive, however, don't plan on getting anything more from this movie than a few unintended laughs.

Robin Tunney is Sarah, the new girl in town who hooks up with the three resident witches (high-school outcasts who are constantly picked on by their classmates -- hey, doesn't every girl get teased about her supernatural powers when she's 16?). Together, they cast some spells, worship nature, and "invoke the spirit." Rachel True and Party of Five's Neve Campbell are adequate but bland as supporting witches. Fairuza Balk as the head witch is frightening only because of her horsy looks and the ability to switch from bored goth girl to Beetlejuice-like lunatic in a matter of seconds. Too bad the film's budget allotted more money to candles and cockroaches than to acting, directing, and writing -- crafts the title obviously isn't referring to. At the Copley Place, the Fresh Pond, and the Circle and in the suburbs.

-- Jessica Cerretani