You can really see Craven honing his craft here. His first couple of films were largely experimental in many ways, but here he really focuses his energies on how to make a tight feature with smooth pacing and solid camera work. The film has a nice flow to it, and the relatively innocent nature of it comes as a bit of a relief after Last House and Hills. Yet, it is still an effective thriller, proving that he can make a provocative feature without reliance on violence to score scares. He also upped his directorial work with extracting strong performances from his actors. Craven’s films often have strong performances, but this was absent in his early pictures. Here he pulls great performances across the board, especially from Blair and Lee Purcell. The film also introduces a 19 year old Fran Drescher as Rachel’s friend in a nice, albeit small role.

With Craven not providing the screenplay this time around, I was curious to see what thematic Cravenisms would weave their way into this feature. The film showcases several empowered young women, offers the trademark dark father, and has the world-wise teen combating adults who just refuse to understand or believe her, all of which are prevalent in many of Craven’s works. And, even though the villain is a witch, Craven manages to humanize the supernatural elements and is able to make commentary on the nature of the outsider and the overlooked youth.