Bette Midler Forgot How Good 'Hocus Pocus' Was Until She Watched It 20 Years Later

The acclaimed actress-singer still has a lot of love for the classic film.

Even after all these years, Bette Midler’s own film, Hocus Pocus, manages to cast a spell on her!

ET spoke with the beloved actress at her 2018 Hulaween party to benefit the New York Restoration Project on Monday night, where she admitted that she’d actually forgotten how wonderfully creepy and fun the Halloween film is, that is until she rewatched it. The discussion came up while chatting about the film's 25th Anniversary Halloween Bash, which went down in L.A.'s Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Oct. 20. Midler, as well as the rest of the cast, showed up to mark the occasion.

“I watched it again for the first time… I haven’t seen it in years, and it was so good,” she shared. “I had forgotten how good it was and how good everybody was, I mean, everybody. I mean, I didn't realize what was going on behind me. Those girls were carrying on something terrible, and the kids were great.” 

“Thora [Birch] was great, Omri [Katz] was great, Vinessa [Shaw] was great and the bus driver was sensational,” she added. “I mean, Gary and Penny, I loved it, I was so impressed and I was so impressed it’s got legs. I mean, 25 years worth of people watching, that’s major.”

The Tony Award-winning actress hit the red carpet in a futuristic silver outfit featuring big shoulders and planet-shaped baubles hanging from hooks tucked into her curly hairdo. This year’s theme was “Hulaween in the Cosmos,” which certainly explains her interplanetary look!

“I am a diplomat from outer space and I am here to talk about kindness and tolerance which everyone from outer space is very worried about the Earth right now,” she said. 

Walter McBride/WireImage

Also in attendance at the event was Ariana Grande's brother, Frankie, who spoke with ET, as well as a slew of other stars.

Just before Hocus Pocus was first released in 1993, ET was on set with the Sanderson sisters -- played by Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker -- as they spilled spooky secrets on bringing the film to life. 

Five years before Sarah Jessica Parker became Carrie Bradshaw, she was an actress who couldn't believe she landed a role opposite Midler. 

"I think that Bette is nothing short of a genius. I really do," she gushed to ET at the time. "And she really is, truly, beyond being an amazingly talented, so professional and, like, a legend of sorts, you know?"

Here's more with the Hocus Pocus stars:

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