Relax, it's only magic...
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- The scene
where Nancy kills Chris. The Nostalgia Chick proposed that Fairuza Balk stopped acting and was really just insane at that point.Chris: You're just jealous!Nancy:' Jealous? Jealous?! You don't even exist to me! You don't even exist! You are nothing! You are shit! (starts floating towards him) You don't exist. The only way you know how to treat women is by treating them like WHORES! When YOU'RE the whore! AND THAT'S GONNA STOP! Do you understand? Do you understand what I'm saying? Huh?Chris: (frightened) I'm sorry!Nancy: He's sorry?! Oh, he's sorry, he's sorry, HE'S SORRY, HE'S SORRY! HE'S SORRY! SORRY MY ASS!!(Chris is blasted out of the window and falls to his death) - The Snake man that approached Sarah twice. The first time actually would spark parental fears, as anyone would be in a situation Sarah did, being alone in the house with a crazed man holding a snake. It's double gruesome when we find out later that Sarah fears snakes. The second time though was even more scary because Sarah and the gang inadvertently used their magic to cause a car to run him down. We never see him again after.
- The hallucination sequence in the climax. HOLY SHIT. Not only is Sarah hallucinating seeing nothing but snakes, spiders, scorpions, maggots, cockroaches and rats as far as the eye can see, but she has no way out and no way to call for help and at one point, some of the rats FALL ON HER! If you happen to be afraid of any of those animals, then that scene is not for you, plus even if you look away, you might as well either change the channel or put it on mute, because you will still be able to hear the slithering, scuttling and squeaking of them all. Not to mention this is happening after Nancy taunts her with the "news report" of her dad and stepmother being killed in a plane crash, all in an effort to drive her to kill herself. Also, the other girls get their own hallucinations. Bonnie and Rochelle have a horrifying vision of the latter with her hair falling out (like she wished on Laura) and the former with burn scars on her face. As for Nancy, all of that that was all around Sarah was happening on her body, complete with snakes for fingers and cockroaches in her mouth.
- Also a little bit of Fridge Horror with that last part. During the confrontation with Sarah, at one point a roach is crawling on Nancy's face, which she then just plucks off like it was nothing and at another, a couple are on her hand and wrist, which she also tries to shake off without much of a fuss. Was she just so distracted/in such a psychotic state that she couldn't care less about some bugs crawling on her or was she reacting by past experience (remember how her home was prior to receiving her stepfather's life insurance)?
- When the quartet goes to the beach to summon Manon. They're alone on a deserted beach in the dead of night, summoning a powerful deity while the waves crash and the wind howls around them. The eerie music helps to maintain the tension. As Nancy finishes the ritual, a glass jar containing a butterfly and a plastic water bag containing a fish suddenly burst, and lightning comes down from the sky to strike Nancy...and it doesn't leave her dead or remotely harmed. In the morning, they awaken to find dozens of dead sharks, dolphins and the like washed up on the sand, and a slew of onlookers and reporters. Whereas Sarah, Bonnie and Rochelle are horrified, Nancy strokes one of the dead animals and squeals with crazed delight, giddy in the belief that Manon has sent her a sign.
- Nancy caresses a dead shark so hard that her hands are covered in blood when she pulls them away. Her response to this is a creepy, delighted giggle. In that moment, it becomes clear that not only is Nancy completely Drunk On Power, but she has truly crossed the line into insanity and villainy.
- When the girls first wake up, Nancy is walking eerily towards them across the water, black clothes flowing in the wind.Nancy: He blessed me! I can feel him running through my veins! He's still in me!
- The rest of the girls turning on Sarah. Particularly the scene where they corner her in the bathroom and threaten her.Rochelle: Sweet dreams, Sarah.Bonnie: By the way, how have you been sleeping?
- To viewers who were ever bullied or had their peer group turn on them, the scene is disturbing even without the witchy subtext.
- Chris attempting to rape Sarah. It very quickly escalates from Chris trying repeatedly to give Sarah a backrub while she rebuffs him, to Chris angrily following a frightened Sarah from the car. She orders him to stay away from her and trips trying to get away, at which point he pins her down while she struggles, hysterically pleading with him to stop, which he completely ignores. They're alone on a dark and isolated backroad near the woods, so it's very unlikely anyone could've come to Sarah's assistance and if she hadn't been able to knee Chris in the groin, it would've ended extremely badly. After briefly incapacitating Chris, Sarah immediately takes off into the woods and apparently runs all the way to Rochelle's house, while Chris screams her name and chases her. Perhaps the most frightening and disturbing part is that, while Chris did have a love spell on him, he already had a very entitled attitude towards women, Sarah included, and it's unfortunately not unheard of in real life for situations like this to occur while on a date or in a relationship.
- Nancy glamoring herself to look like Sarah and seduce Chris is very unsettling. The way Chris falls for it so quickly and begins making out with "Sarah", "Sarah"'s creepy little laugh, the fact it could be considered rape by deception...and then Sarah walks in on herself making out with Chris. The fact that Chris tried to rape Sarah just a few scenes prior just makes it all worse, both for Sarah and the viewers. When Chris sees it's actually Nancy he was making out with, he freaks out and Nancy just lies there sniggering and mocking him, as if it's all a big joke.
- Nancy's fate. She can't use magic anymore and her mind is virtually shattered. She is constantly restrained and sedated whilst going on a Madness Mantra. The way she stares directly into the camera in the final scene is a pretty creepy way to end things.
- The very fact that powerful magic exists and can be accessed by just about anyone - there's no apparent rules or guidelines set in place, a la Harry Potter. And, as shown with Nancy, in the hands of the wrong person, this power can be incredibly dangerous.
- Nancy's stepfather Ray attempting to lift up her dressing gown and makes sexual comments about her. Followed immediately with Ray physically harming Nancy's mother Grace just because she gave him only a light slap on the arm from doing such things. And he threatens her, telling her not to touch him like that again. The Hypocrisy of his words and the whole Domestic Abuse situation for Nancy makes one feel a little sorry for her. Thankfully, Ray suffers a violent heart attack and dies choking.
