Sabrina the Teenage Witch

I'm afraid to say that the TV-series has a much higher production value. This is basically a cheap TV movie with a very thin plot. Sabrina fights with the high school's ice queen over a boy and Sabrina uses some magic to win his heart. Maybe that's enough for an episode in the series, but not for an entire movie.

Sixteen year old Sabrina Sawyer (Melissa Joan Hart) moves in with her aunts Hilda (Sherry Miller) and Zelda (Charlene Fernetz) in Riverdale. After three months, her inner witch abilities are starting to show. Marnie Littlefield (Michelle Beaudoin) is her best friend at school. They have a crush on hot jock Seth (Ryan Reynolds). Harvey has a secret crash on Sabrina. Katy Lemore spices up her love life by breaking up with Seth. On her birthday, Sabrina is given her spell book and then their cat Salem starts talking. She tries to win Seth with witchcraft but it requires love with a pure heart from Seth or else she'll be turned into a witch's familiar.

It's fine as a teen romance. Harvey could be played by an actor with a bit more charm. The rest of the cast is fine. This is for the TV show's fans and also anybody who wants to see Ryan Reynolds in his 80s fluffy golden blonde hair. It's a low level family-friendly fun time and not anything more.

I myself grew up watching the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episodes. If you are a big fan of Melissa Joan Hart or love the series then you will definitely love this movie. The movie takes place at the beginning when Sabrina just discovers that she is a witch. It is very interesting to see how she copes with it and what she goes through. However not all of the main characters in the show make it to the movie since the movie was created first. The voice of Salem you can also tell is off. But, it is a great started movie to the series. I loved watching it.

If you like Sabrina, then watch this movie. It will amaze you. It is magical.

Released to TV in spring 1996, "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" was the pilot movie for the series that ran for seven years from 1996-2003. The plot revolves around Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) having to move from Massachusetts to live with her two eccentric aunts in Rockland County, New York, where she starts attending Riverdale High, becomes besties with Marnie (Michelle Beaudoin) and contends with requisite mean girl, Katy Lemore (Lalainia Lindbjerg). After her 16th birthday, Sabrina learns she's a witch and grapples with the morality of having powers other mortals don't.

The tone of the production is decidedly pedestrian in a mid-90's TV manner, but the cast brightens things up with their energy and a decent script. (It was amusing to learn why Salem can talk and other cats can't). I've probably watched a dozen episodes of the subsequent series and the main draw was always Melissa's winsomeness. She was 19 years-old when this pilot was shot and just got more beautiful over the course of the series. For those interested, Ryan Reynolds has a significant role; he was 18-19 during filming.

The movie runs 1 hour, 31 minutes and was shot in British Columbia with some establishing shots done in Brookline, Massachusetts (or so IMDb says).

GRADE: B-

I do think the the TV series based on this TV flick is better, but this movie did set the course for laugh-out-loud comedy series. Most of the casting is messed up, except for Michelle Beaudoin as Marny, Sabrina's best friend. Michelle went on to play Sabrina's best friend Jenny for a season, which was good. However, the voice of Salem in this one was all wrong! The voice in the show is much better.