What actually happens
A boy turned into a cat for 300 years
On October 31, 1693, in Salem, Thackery Binx finds out that his little sister Emily has been taken by the Sanderson sisters, Winifred, Mary and Sarah. The witches have already drained her life force to stay young. Binx goes to their cottage and arrives too late, and as punishment they put him in the body of an immortal black cat, where he can think about it forever. The townspeople, led by Binx's friend Elijah, arrest the sisters and sentence them to hang. During the hanging Winifred curses the town: on a Halloween with a full moon, if a virgin lights the Black-Flame Candle in the cottage, the sisters will return. Binx decides to stop them when they do.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Max does not believe in candles
Three hundred years later, Max Dennison has moved to Salem from Los Angeles and is stuck taking his little sister Dani trick-or-treating. They meet up with Allison Watts, a classmate Max likes, and the three of them visit the old Sanderson cottage. It has become an abandoned museum. Max thinks the witch story is hocus pocus and lights the Black-Flame Candle anyway. The sisters return, and they try to take Dani's soul. Max gets in the way, and then Binx turns up and turns out to be able to talk. On his instructions Max steals Winifred's spellbook, and the kids run to a cemetery the witches can't enter because the ground is hallowed. Winifred calls her old fiancé, Billy Butcherson, up out of his grave from afar and sets him on the kids, which forces them to leave. The sisters will turn to dust at sunrise unless they drain a child first.
I Put a Spell on You, with the entire town
The kids rush to a Halloween party where most of Salem's adults are gathered. Max warns his parents and everyone else, but the witches arrive on stage and sing "I Put a Spell on You", which makes the adults dance until they die. The kids and Binx trick the witches into the pottery kiln at the high school and light it. The witches fall apart, and then the curse puts them back together after the kids leave. Believing the witches are finished, Max and Allison open the spellbook to look for a way to undo Binx's curse, and that lets the witches find them. The sisters grab Binx and Dani and take back the book, and Sarah's singing pulls every child in town to the cottage. Max and Allison get Dani and Binx back by convincing the witches the sun came up an hour early.
Sunrise, and a very sad cat
In the cemetery Billy catches up with the kids, cuts his stitched-shut mouth open with Max's knife, and announces that he can't stand Winifred and is helping the kids. The witches grab Dani again after an aerial attack, and Winifred is about to drain her with the last vial of potion when Binx knocks it away. Max catches it and drinks it to save Dani. Winifred takes Max up on her broomstick, they fight in the air, and both fall into the hallowed cemetery, where she turns to stone. The sun rises. Mary and Sarah turn to dust, and Winifred's stone body breaks apart soon after. Billy goes back to his grave. This is the sad part, so here is what happens: Binx dies in his cat form. Dani finds the body and cries, but his spirit shows up in human form, with the curse broken, and thanks the children. Emily's spirit arrives to take her brother to the afterlife.
The ending, explained
At sunrise Mary and Sarah turn to dust, and Winifred's stone body breaks apart shortly after, so all three sisters are gone. Billy Butcherson goes back to his grave to sleep. Binx dies in his cat form, Dani finds the body and weeps, and then his spirit appears as a human, free of the curse, to thank the children. Emily's spirit arrives to escort her brother to the afterlife.
The post-credits ruling
There is a scene in the middle of the credits. The adults shake off the dancing spell and stumble out of the party tired, and the eye on the witches' spellbook opens, which hints that the sisters may return.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Hocus Pocus scary?
Hocus Pocus is a 2 out of 10 with low dread. It is a Halloween comedy with some jump scares and a soul-draining potion, and it is gone by the time the credits roll.
How does Hocus Pocus end?
The three Sanderson sisters turn to dust at sunrise. Binx dies in his cat form, then his spirit returns as a boy to thank the kids, and his sister Emily's spirit takes him with her.
Does the dog die in Hocus Pocus?
No dog dies in Hocus Pocus. Binx, the cursed black cat, is run over by a bus and recovers, and his cat body goes limp at the end after the curse lifts.
Is there a post-credits scene in Hocus Pocus?
Yes, Hocus Pocus has a mid-credits scene. The adults come out of the dancing spell and leave the party, and the eye on the spellbook opens, which suggests the Sanderson sisters could return.
Why do the Sanderson sisters need a child in Hocus Pocus?
In Hocus Pocus the Sanderson sisters drain life force to stay young. Winifred reveals that unless they drain at least one child before sunrise, all three turn to dust.
