“Why exactly do you own this again?”

Okay, I have an embarrassing confession to make. I actually own a copy of The Craft. Yes, that teen movie about the four witches. You must understand that it has sentimental value because my friend Dan and I saw that movie (in the theater no less) quite a few times in high school when we were going through our “dark” period. Oh God, it is ridiculous how many trips we made to the dollar cinema to watch this film. (Although Heathers and Pump Up The Volume probably win out for me on teen movies most watched during my high school years.)

So, years later (last year in fact), I found a copy of it at Best Buy for eight dollars and I couldn’t help myself. Dan was in town visiting his family at the time, so he came over to watch it as well. I don’t quite remember if we even finished it that night because we kept stopping to laugh about the fact that we were indeed sitting and watching it again. It is actually pretty funny, because when I watch it now I can see how it plays on all the typical teen stereotypes, but went for the themes and images that the burgeoning goth generation desired.

Studio Exec: “Hey Guys! The kids like that Crow movie, why not make a teen movie about dark magic and cast pretty girls in it? What do you think?”

It didn’t have the dark wit of Heathers, or the classic rebellious, shy nerd from Pump Up The Volume, but it was well timed and in our teen angst we bought into it.

I still can’t bring myself to part with it. I’ve only watched it once all the way through since I bought it, but the memories of high school are too strongly associated with it. I look at The Craft and I think of late nights driving out into the foggy farmland surrounding Cedar Rapids, sitting out on our cars in a field watching a storm roll in, and late nights standing in woods talking about the “Lovecraft problem” and House of Leaves. I look at that movie and I feel sixteen again.

Of course, when people look at my DVD collection, The Craft is the one on the shelf that they demand an explantion for. :-)