50 Fun Facts About The Craft

In what year was The Craft released in US cinemas?

It opened at number one on 3 May and became a sleeper hit that Columbia credited to teenage girls and young women.

Who directed The Craft?

Filardi wrote the story and first draft, Wick produced, and Fleming came on to direct and finish the script; he later executive-produced the sequel.

Who plays Sarah Bailey, the new girl who completes the coven?

She had just made Empire Records and went on to play Teresa Lisbon on The Mentalist for seven seasons.

Which actress plays Nancy, the coven's unstable leader?

The performance earned her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and, critics agree, is the film's most enduring legacy.

Which Party of Five star plays the burn-scarred witch in the coven?

She was the best-known of the four leads at the time; The Craft was her first widely released film.

Rochelle Zimmerman is played by which actress?

She and Nancy's actress were the first two cast; the character was rewritten as Black once True was hired.

Who plays Chris Hooker, the jock who spreads a rumour about Sarah?

The same year he played Billy Loomis in Scream, so 1996 audiences saw him die horribly twice.

Sarah moves to Los Angeles from which city at the start of the film?

She arrives with her father and stepmother, and it later emerges she once attempted suicide.

What is the name of the powerful deity the girls worship?

The name was invented for the film; the on-set Wiccan adviser wrote the incantations to keep the rest of the ritual respectful of real practice.

What does one of the coven see Sarah do in class that convinces them she is 'the fourth'?

The coven represents the four elements, and they need a fourth member to become powerful.

What happens to the vagrant who chases Sarah, an event the girls believe their combined will caused?

He had earlier frightened Sarah with a snake, and the 'accident' is what first bonds the four girls.

What does Chris do after his date with Sarah that pushes her to cast a love spell on him?

The spell works far too well: he becomes obsessed, then violent, and eventually tries to assault her.

Rochelle's curse on her racist bully has what effect?

Rochelle later finds Laura sobbing in the shower over her baldness, and the revenge stops feeling good.

What does the burn-scarred witch ask the spell for?

Her scars heal, and she promptly turns vain and cruel; it is the film's cleanest be-careful-what-you-wish-for arc.

How does Nancy's abusive stepfather die after she asks Manon for power?

The life insurance lets Nancy and her mother swap the trailer for a luxury high-rise apartment.

What is the name of the dangerous ritual Nancy pushes the coven to perform on the beach?

Lirio, the occult-shop owner, warns them against it; Nancy is struck by lightning mid-ritual and comes out changed.

The morning after the ritual, Nancy is seen walking on water surrounded by what?

The sharks were built by Tony Gardner's effects company Alterian, which also handled the film's makeup effects.

Who runs the local shop of charms and candles and warns the girls about the ritual?

She is played by Spanish actress Assumpta Serna, and the shop scenes were filmed at the El Adobe Marketplace on Hollywood Boulevard.

How does Nancy kill Chris at the party?

She had used a glamour to impersonate Sarah and seduce him; when he sees through it and calls her jealous, she snaps.

When Sarah's binding spell fails, what do the other three make her believe to drive her toward suicide?

They also invade her dreams and fill her house with insects and snakes before she finally invokes the spirit herself.

Where is Nancy at the end of the film?

Restrained and delusional, she insists she can fly; the sequel picks that thread up 24 years later.

When the two surviving coven members come to make peace, why does Sarah say Manon stripped their powers?

They assume Sarah must have lost hers too, until she conjures a lightning storm and drops a tree branch on them.

What is the name of the fictional Catholic school the girls attend?

Verdugo Hills High School stood in for it, with the production designer adding religious statues around the grounds.

Roughly how many actresses screen-tested for the four lead roles?

Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and Alicia Silverstone were among them.

Which future star was among the actresses who screen-tested for the film?

Jolie was 20 and a year away from her breakthrough; Scarlett Johansson, then about eleven, also tested.

Sarah's actress was originally cast as which character before producers moved her to the lead?

She reportedly preferred the smaller part and had to be persuaded to take the starring role.

Why did Sarah's actress wear a wig throughout the shoot?

Empire Records had come out the year before; both films flopped and both became cult favourites.

The production hired Pat Devin as an on-set adviser. What was she?

She wrote the incantations used in the film and vetted the treatment of witchcraft for accuracy and respect.

What did Nancy's actress buy in Los Angeles while filming?

The shop was Panpipes; she has also released music since 2010 under the name Armed Love Militia.

Nancy's actress made her film debut as Dorothy Gale in which 1985 film?

That role earned her a Saturn Award nomination at eleven; she also played Mildred Hubble in the 1986 TV film The Worst Witch.

Wes Craven saw the burn-scarred witch's actress in The Craft and cast her in which 1996 film?

He thought she could play 'innocent' but hold her own once the conflict turned physical, and Sidney Prescott was born.

The actor who plays Chris was born with what name?

His stepfather was NASCAR driver D. K. Ulrich, and his uncle is Hall of Fame driver Ricky Rudd.

Rochelle's actress later led which UPN sitcom as Mona Thorne?

It ran from 2002 to 2006; her other 90s cult credits include Nowhere and Half Baked.

What was The Craft's production budget?

It made $6.7 million on opening weekend alone and $55.6 million worldwide.

Which MTV Movie Award did The Craft win?

It went to Nancy and Sarah's actresses for the finale; the film was also up for the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.

Which Beatles song does Our Lady Peace cover on the soundtrack?

The soundtrack came out on Columbia a month before the film; three songs heard in the movie were left off it over rights problems.

Love Spit Love's cover of which Smiths song appears on the soundtrack?

The same recording later became the theme tune of the witch series Charmed.

Heather Nova's end-credits song 'I Have the Touch' is a cover of a track by which artist?

Her version exists only on this soundtrack; she has never released it elsewhere or played it live.

Who composed the film's score?

An uncredited bonus track from the score, 'Bells, Books and Candles', closes the song soundtrack.

The Craft was an inspiration for which 2013 Katy Perry hit?

The film also pops up in the end credits of Marvel's Agatha All Along and in a Gumball parody episode.

Three of the four leads reunited for a 2013 Halloween screening at which Los Angeles landmark?

Nancy's actress was the one who didn't attend.

Who wrote and directed the 2020 sequel The Craft: Legacy?

Janiak had been attached to an earlier version in 2016; Blumhouse took the project over in 2019 with the original director as executive producer.

Who plays Lily, the new fourth witch, in The Craft: Legacy?

The sequel skipped cinemas in the US and went straight to video on demand on 28 October 2020.

Which X-Files star plays Adam, the stepfather revealed as the villain of The Craft: Legacy?

Adam is a member of a pagan cult after Lily's powers; the girls burn him to death using their elemental magic.

In the final scene of The Craft: Legacy, who is revealed to be Lily's birth mother?

Her actress returns for the cameo, meeting Lily in the mental health hospital where the first film left her.

How did The Craft: Legacy fare at the box office?

Reviews were mixed, though it earned a GLAAD Media Award nomination for its handling of a bisexual character.

Where was The Craft: Legacy filmed?

The original was shot all over Los Angeles, from LAX to Leo Carrillo State Park, where the beach invocation was staged.

Roughly how much did The Craft gross worldwide?

Made for $15 million, it opened at number one in North America with $6.7 million; Columbia credited teenagers and young women for its sleeper success.

Which real Los Angeles campus stood in for the fictional St. Benedict's Academy?

The occult bookstore was shot at the El Adobe Marketplace on Hollywood Boulevard, and Jensen's Recreation Center in Echo Park was used to avoid overfamiliar LA locations.

Who created the beached sharks and the film's makeup effects?

The screenplay came from Peter Filardi and director Andrew Fleming, based on producer Douglas Wick's idea of blending high school with witchcraft.