Why is this a cult classic?

Two words: Bette Midler. Take her out of the movie and it has the shelf life of many forgotten holiday-themed movies of the time. She's incredibly fun to watch in this.

"He makes me laugh, he'a always humping and pointing at Reese Witherspoon." - rebschucks

The jokes are very good for kids and adults. A child dies within ten minutes and even has freaky imagery

I think it has to do with the fact that Disney and ABC air this film every Halloween on tv, so new generations of kids can watch it. There are also fans of the sisters themselves, in addition to real-life witches who like the characters.

However, there are groups of people who do not like this film, mostly for religious reasons. It's disturbing to Christian viewers that this film glorifies characters who are in fact, evil, and use magic given to them by the devil to do horrible things to children. It's even more insulting that the kids who are the heroes do not call on God to help when fighting these witches. Like any lame secular "outwit the devil" kind of story, they rely on their wits and ingenuity instead of God to fight evil.

Ive watched at least parts of this movie probably 20 times this month alone Freeform. I just watched tonight again, ha. This film just grabs me in the Fall for some reason. Yeah I cant figure it out. Its just a good Halloween themed movie.

Why is this a cult classic?

Having just seen the film recently, my guess as to why it's popular are

- The strength of the performances of the three leads, Bette Midler especially. They're all very good. It's very hard to pull off being comic AND scary (but not too scary.) They nailed it.

- It's got a cute talking cat. That's probably about half of it right there.

- The story goes down like soft vanilla ice cream. There's no real peril, no blood, and a happy ending. Nothing cringeworthy, in other words. Although if it was made today, I don't think they'd put bright red lipstick on Dani at the beginning of the movie and I'm pretty sure they would have that scene with the fake cop asking Max if he's really a virgin. That comes across as somewhat pervy these days. (in fact, the emphasis on Max being a virgin came across to me as a bit odd. It's even the last line of the movie!)

- Fortunately, the adults are depicted as responsible adults and not morons. I think that helps, because a lot of kids movies lose their appeal when the kids who watched them grow up and realize that the adults in the movie are idiots. Makes the film a lot less nostalgic!

- It's only an hour and a half long and moves quick. There's not a lot of wasted scenes or slow-moving dialogue.

- There aren't that many Halloween movies for kids, so what there is tends to stand out.

Cult classics and long-time favourite films all share similarities.

For one, they're always quotable. They're fun, but they embrace their genre without over- or under-playing it. They usually have a very distinct visual motif. Plus, they have specific memorable characters that people fall in love/hate with. Being memorable overall is probably the main thing. And the music stays with you, as well.

As well, being a Halloween movie helps because Halloween hasn't ceased to exist, and it plays into people's ongoing ability to interact with the show as consumers. For example, it's a lot easier to buy Halloween products than, say, a t-shirt that says "A Little Bit Dramatic" as worn by Regina George in Mean Girls, or to recognise the Winifred costume than to call out someone wearing a pink shirt and say "oh, you must be Kady from Mean Girls."

Today is one of the reasons. It celebrates Halloween as a fun romp with a very decent story.