‘“Oh Relax, It’s Just Magic”: The (R)evolution of The Craft and The Craft: Legacy’

One important aspect of the current trend of ‘legacy sequels’ which is not extensively written about is that many of these remakes, sequels, prequels and re-quels are directed by women, as it can be seen in the case of Rabid (Soska Sisters, 2019), Black Christmas (Sophia Takal, 2019), The Craft: Legacy (Zoe Lister-Jones, 2020) and Candyman (Nia DaCosta, 2021). What this paper aims to analyse is this overlooked issue and ask the question of ‘what happens when a woman remakes a male text?’ Referred here as ‘male text’ does not necessarily mean a male story, but one that has been told by a male perspective and as such the case study this paper will focus on is the 1996 The Craft (Andrew Fleming) and its 2020 sequel The Craft: Legacy. While the former is a key text in horror scholarship wherein its progressive treatment of the power of young witches is brought to the fore, the 2020 film updates its themes and styles through the representation of female and male characters and its use of sub-generic tropes. What the paper will illustrate is the many ways the historical legacy of The Craft is updated to fit within the current trend of ‘legacy sequels’ and to appeal to 2020 audiences.