The Craft (1996)

"The Craft" was purposely cast with attractive young actors in order to attract a large audience for the box office; luckily the actors were talented as well! "The Craft" is a fun fantasy/horror film that focuses on four young women who practice witchcraft. While none of the actors in the film were standout success stories when the film came out, they did manage to find a spotlight from this movie and others that shortly followed. Both Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich appeared in "Scream" which came out later that year, and of course Neve appeared in the sequels and other mainstream films. Fariuza Balk would soon be seen in the awkward "Island of Dr. Moreau" and "American History X". And star Robin Tunney would have moderate success in the years to follow, including a staring role with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action/horror movie "End of Days".

Sarah is the new girl in school and is having the typical difficulties of trying to fit in. She ends up befriending the group that she was advised to stay away from, three semi-rebellious girls who have difficulties of their own; Bonnie,who is self conscious of massive burn scars on her back, Rochelle, who is bullied by a racist cheerleader type, and Nancy, their goth leader who lives in a trailer with her mom and abusive, drunk step-dad. They embrace Sarah when Bonnie catches her balancing a pencil on it's tip during class. They tell Sarah that they are witches and have been looking for their fourth member to complete their coven. Sarah has natural powers (inherited from her mom, who died during childbirth), and joins the three. They have a breakthrough one night and actually begin casting spells. Bonnie's scars heal, Rochelle extracts revenge when the cheerleader starts losing her hair, Nancy's step-father dies and leaves her and her mom a healthy insurance settlement, and Sarah enchants a cute boy to like her. But Sarah realizes that something is wrong when the three become power hungry and the cute boy becomes obsessed and dangerous. When Sarah tries to leave the coven, she's told that she can either stay or die. Finding her inner strength, she leaves and prepares for the worst....

End of Days (1999)

“End of Days” is a great example of a movie about cults. You have a group of dedicated individuals who have committed theirs lives to kidnapping and then raising a girl who has been cosmetically chose to be the bride/sacrifice to Satan himself at the turn of the millennium. And in proper cultist/deity fashion, the Devil (Garbriel Byrne) has no problem killing a follower or two when he gets pissed off. On the other side of the coin, you can almost call the priests who are trying to stop the Devil from completing his sacrifice a cult as well; they are members of the Catholic Church but belong to an ultra-secretive sect. So it’s Cult vs. Cult in deciding Robin Tunney’s fate…and there’s Arnold Schwarzenegger doing what he does.

1999 is quickly coming to an end and Jericho, a private top notch security/body guard stumbles upon a plot that involves a group of unknowns that are trying to kill a young woman named Christine. While saving Christine from Church assassins, Jericho finds out that Christine’s adopted family are a cult that worships Satan and that Christine is to be sacrificed so he may walk the Earth again in his real body (he is possessing the body of Gabriel Byrne at the moment). More priests die, more cultists die, Jericho’s friends are possessed and die, a train blows up, and a final showdown between Jericho and the Devil takes place in a church. Happy New Year, it’s Y2K!