Recently, I’ve been self-reflecting a lot on what may have influenced me in my younger years to want to write horror. As a 90’s kid, a lot of the films I consumed were directed by Steven Spielberg, who was at the height of his career with hits like Jurassic Park, E.T., and the titular film of today’s post, Hook. A re-telling of J.M. Barrie’s classic fairytale of Peter and Wendy, the film posits what would happen if Peter Pan decided to leave Neverland and grow up. What if he had children of his own? What if he forgot who he was and where he came from?

Acted by the amazing Robin Williams, Peter must return to Neverland and rediscover himself in an effort to save his children from his nemesis, Captain Hook (played by an incredible Dustin Hoffman).

I re-watched the film last night with fresh eyes, looking to get lost in the nostalgia and also study it for the masterful piece of storytelling that it is. I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, there were several times while watching where I wanted to start crying because of how at home I felt, how much it reminded me of childhood, how good it made me feel.

I don’t need to tell you this, but if you haven’t seen the film, there will be spoilers. Since this came out over twenty years ago, I feel like I’m probably safe in divulging a few things.

The film starts off with the Banning family (Peter, his wife, Moira, and son, Jack) attending the school play of Peter Pan. Young daughter, Maggie, is playing Wendy in the play. During the opening, it’s established that Peter is a businessman, heavily involved in work and dismissive of his own family. This is later propelled when Peter misses Jack’s baseball game due to taking too long at the office.

The Bannings go on vacation to England to visit family, namely Moira’s grandmother, the real Wendy from the J.M. Barrie book. Wendy is played by Maggie Smith, who does a phenomenal job introducing the mysticism that surrounds Peter’s past and immediately makes all of our hearts gush with her tale of having fallen in love with Peter and the disappointment of that love not being reciprocated.

Of course, none of that comes out until after Peter snaps at his family for interrupting an important business call and Moira warns him that he’s missing out on being a part of his children’s lives because he’s too wrapped up in work. Peter, Moira, and Wendy all go to a banquet to celebrate Wendy’s achievements in foster care (she took in Peter as a child, helped raise him and found him a family in the U.S. along with countless other children). During this dinner scene, the Banning children are kidnapped by a glowing green light that blasts open the doors and windows of the house.

The scene that follows is shot SO wonderfully. Up until now, Wendy’s home has been seen as a place of wonder, of good memories, of childhood fantasy and laughter and love, intercut only by Peter’s own self-interest. As we watch Peter and Moira in the wake of realizing that someone has broken in, the illusion of safety is obliterated. Following the hook marks carved through the door, through the beautiful wallpaper and portraits, heading up the stairs… This is all backed by a crescendo of rising and falling music from the great John Williams, the horror truly hits home. Finding Liza in a daze at the top of the steps, she recounts how the door blew closed and all she could hear were the children’s screams.

I mean… HOLY SHIT. But of course, this isn’t horror; this is an adventure film in the 90’s. So, once we hit the bedroom, we find the children’s beds empty and a sword stabbed through the door with a note addressing Peter to come and save his children in Neverland, signed by Captain Hook. A little bit of a fun thought here, but us not seeing Hook for this entire exchange almost takes a page out of Spielberg’s Jaws with not showing the shark until later in the film. Not seeing Hook and only seeing the jagged trail of destruction left behind by him makes this whole scene ten times scarier.

Let it be known that there is LOADS of grief in this film going forward. Grief about unrequited love; grief about lost memories; grief of feeling rudderless (to use a nautical term); grief of feeling abandoned. And all of this grief is what stayed with me years after watching the film as a kid. Grief is a strong emotion, one that I tied together with fright and horror somewhere in the recesses of my childhood. I’m still looking for the exact place where those two became intertwined and perhaps it’s not one place at all. Maybe it’s more of a gradual meld more than anything else? But, when I see grief, its darkness is almost indistinguishable from horror for me.

This movie rides a fine line between adult and child audiences because it is all about maintaining childhood enthusiasm and adventurism as an adult and not losing ones spark —don’t grow up. But in order to fully cognize it, one must have experienced the adulthood side of things. As a kid, I got the basic concepts down but there is something to be said about the drudgery and demands of a full time job, understanding what it means to become a workaholic, losing spending time with your loved ones because of it or not even noticing when you’re doing it.

Peter is shown actively failing to save his kids because he’s too afraid. For a hero of an adventure film to fail, especially in a situation where those characters are threatened with death, was pretty jarring for a spectator kid. While there was outright no actual blood in the film, there were multiple characters being stabbed, shot, and tortured (the BOOM BOX SCENE?!). And let’s not forget Hook trying to commit suicide because he was convinced there was no greater adventure than death remaining.

But the most truly dark and unsettling thing that came out of this film was Hook trying to make Peter’s children forget about him so he could claim them as his own. And it almost works! What’s only inferred and barely touched upon is the fact that Neverland makes people forget. It’s said outright by Maggie in one scene (which seems odd considering what’s happening). The whole movie, there are instances where characters forget why they’ve come to Neverland. Jack forgets Peter and his sister and accepts Hook as his father figure after only a couple days. Peter seems to forget that he’s there to save his kids after he’s remembered his true identity as Peter Pan.

That whole idea of forgetting who you are, losing your identity, is a fairly frightening concept and one that is overshadowed by the humor and heartwarming aspects of the film. But Spielberg is a master at telling a family story with all the shades of emotion effortlessly. He manages to weave in all of these different points of grief and loss while still keeping our attention firmly focused on the climactic battle ahead: Pirates vs. Lost Boys, Peter vs. Hook, childhood vs. adulthood.

Looking back on this film from a new angle hasn’t changed the nostalgia for me. It’s still one of my favorite films. If anything, it’s attained more meaning for me now. I get to watch it with a wider lens and appreciate all the different facets that I missed (or was vaguely aware of) as a kid.

Hook is currently streaming on Netflix as of June 8th. If you find yourself hungering for a re-watch or wanting to discover this integral 90’s film, go give it a watch. Let yourself be whisked away by the magic of it. Find horror in the nostalgia.

Until next time,

Kat