COMPETING FILM SHOWDOWN - Little Witches vs The Craft

Looking at film.  Sometimes two very similar films come out close together, let's see which one is better...

Wiccan Showdown

In 1996 there were two films about the new girl to a Catholic school gets involved with the school's amateur coven.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

Little Witches was a low budget film, shot in two weeks and released a month after The Craft has lead to the general assumption that is was made the cash-in on the bigger film.  The fact that the poster makes makes it look that does nothing to dissuade that notion.

Round 1
TITLE

"You know, in the old days, if a witch betrayed her coven, they would kill her." ~ Nancy, The Craft.

Little Witches - .An interesting play on "Little Women"/"Little Bitches" but ends up being a weak name.

The Craft - On the surface a dull name but with a certain power to it.

WINNER - THE CRAFT

Round 2
PLOT

"What did she do?" ~ Nicole.
"What didn't she do?" ~ Kelsey, Little Witches.

Little Witches - Teen girls play with evil, accidentally summon stuff.  Usual horror stuff.  The sub-plot with them trying to keep the Final Girl pure so they can use her blood is a nice touch.

The Craft - The new girl to town joins a small group of other damaged girls who are actually a coven of Wiccan wannabes.

WINNER - THE CRAFT

Round 3
CHARACTERS

"We are the weirdos, mister" ~ Nancy, The Craft.

Little Witches - A bunch of two-dimension stereotypical horror film cliches.

The Craft - High School movie cliches with limited attempts at depth.

WINNER:  THE CRAFT

Round 4
 ACTORS

"Yeah well, you know what they say. You are who you hang with." ~ Sarah.

"Yeah right... wait, did you just call me an asshole?" ~ Chris, The Craft.

Little Witches - The acting is bad.  Really bad.

The Craft - The acting is average.  Really average

WINNER:  THE CRAFT

Round 5
PORTRAYAL OF WITCHCRAFT

"If God and the Devil were playing football, Manon would be the stadium that they played on." ~ Nancy, The Craft.

Little Witches - A hodgepodge of movie magic, skyclad rituals around cauldrons, dusty books written in Latin, demon summoning and mentions of the Illuminati. 

The Craft - Consulted Wiccans for accuracy, although, you know, it's still a film so it's not too accurate.

WINNER:  THE CRAFT

Round 6
HORROR

"Lucifer himself is stealing your souls.  Look in the mirror, you see what I say is true." ~ Sister Sherilyn, Little Witches.

Little Witches - An out-and-out horror film and fails at it. 

The Craft - More a supernatural thriller than a horror, but much more tension.

WINNER:  THE CRAFT

Round 7
EFFECTS

"You can do that with contacts." ~ Nancy.
"Yeah, but it's good. I mean, it suits you." ~ Bonnie.
"Subtle... but good!" ~ Rochelle.
"You want something bigger?" ~ Sarah, The Craft.

Little Witches - A demon puppet that even quick cuts and being obscured in darkness doesn't hide how bad it is. 

The Craft - Few FX, mostly subtle, but well used.

WINNER:  THE CRAFT

Round 8
TESTS

"You really wanna know why?" ~ Laura
"Yes, I really wanna know why." ~ Rochelle.
"Because I don't like negroids." ~ Laura, The Craft.

Little Witches.

• Bechdel Test - There are a number of conversations involving the plot (character histories, the rituals, etc) between women, especially between Faith and the nuns.  Pass.
• The Racial Bechdel Test - Only one minority character.  Fail.
• Mako Mori Test - All the main characters are female so if there's a plot in there it's probably about a female character.  Possibly Pass.

The Craft.

• Bechdel Test - Some conversations between the main female characters, not all about boys.  Pass.
• The Racial Bechdel Test - Only one named minority character.  Fails.
• Mako Mori Test - All the main characters are females and they have an arc.  Pass.

TIE.
  

Round 9
MORAL VICTOR

"Father, I've been a bad girl." ~ Jamie, Little Witches.

Lalaneya Hamilton, who appeared in Little Witches says:  "In my life... I would have to say that acting in Little Witches is one of the most regrettable things that I have ever done. I am very sorry that I took part in it. As a Christian I would not recommend this movie."

WINNER:  LITTLE WITCHES

Round 10
NUDITY
"Miss Illuminati 1896" ~ Jamie, Little Witches.

Little Witches - Horror females love female nudity, especially the bad ones.  As an especially bad film, it has a lot of nudity.  One actress is naked lots including a striptease, an attempt to seduce the main male character and standard behaviour in the confessional.  Other than that skyclad rituals involving extras at the being of the film and most of the female cast (including Clea DuVall) later.

The Craft - Some minor naked back of Neve Campbell and some bounce or hard nipples (depending on availability) from the 4 leads in the hero walk, but no nudity. 

WINNER:  LITTLE WITCHES

Round 11
RATINGS

"What is somebody saw you?" Faith.
"That was kind of the point." ~ Jamie, Little Witches.

IMDb user rating:

• Little Witches:  3.4/10.
• The Craft:  6.2/10.

Rotten Tomatoes - Tomatometer

• Little Witchesz:  No score.
• The Craft:   50%.

Rotten Tomatoes - Audience 

• Little Witches:  75%. (Want to see it)
• The Craft:   65% (Liked it)

WINNER:  THE CRAFT

Round 12
ENDING
"So who knows, maybe some other good little girls really did call the devil up from hell.  That's my confession father." ~ Faith, Little Witches

Little Witches - Standard victory that jumps to a tell-not-show ending.

The Craft - Standard victory with a too trite everything end's happily and most of the bad stuff goes away ending.  A bit of a let down and anti-climatic.

WINNER:  LITTLE WITCHES

Round 13

READER'S POLL
"Gee, what a coincidence.  I can read Latin." ~ Faith, Little Witches.

Even if you haven't seen both films, do the survey.

RESULTS SO FAR
"I hate it when someone gives away the ending." ~ Hopper, A Bug's Life.

LITTLE WITCHES:  2.5 (2 wins, 1 tie)

THE CRAFT:  8.5  (8 wins, 1 ties)

There's really no contest.

~ DUG.