The fascinating blog Scouting New York takes you into the world of a professional film location scout in the Big Apple. Yesterday, the scout talked about looking for a genuine NY “occult shop” for two different movies, and how difficult that really is.

“On two different movies I’ve scouted for recently, I was asked to find a genuine “occult store.” Of course, by occult, they actually mean cliched movie magic shop ala the curio shop in Gremlins. Sadly, the reality is that such shops SIMPLY DO NOT EXIST. Literally, there is not a single store in New York that bears any resemblance to the magic store Hollywood has reused over and over and over. However, each time, we do the search to be thorough, and end up covering the same list of New Age and Wiccan stores in the area, most of which are located in one-story storefronts and strip malls, as opposed to hidden down dank alleys and forgotten byways.”

The post goes on to talk about Mystic Essentials, a small botanica, and remarks on how modern, bright, fascinating, and completely unsuited to the sort of atmosphere a film director is typically looking for when shooting a scene in an “occult” store, the shop is.

I’ve been in dozens of occult, New Age, and metaphysical shops over the years, and I don’t think any of them came close to the “spooky” atmosphere of various films. Some were crammed full of books and resembled second-hand book shops more than anything else, while others were sparse, well-lit, and mostly focused on various spiritual services (readings, Reiki, and realignments). The botanicas I’ve visited could only be counted as “spooky” if you took into account the sometimes rough neighborhoods they are located in. That said, some films come close to the reality. “Ray’s Occult” from Ghostbusters II looks an awful lot like a few occult bookstores I’ve visited.

While Sally’s shop in Practical Magic came pretty close to the vibe some up-scale health-and-body oriented New Age establishments have.

Personally, as far as Witch and Pagan-owned businesses go, I’m waiting for a witchy hipster nightclub like they had in Bell Book and Candle (a fabulous cast, except for Jimmy Stewart, who felt out of place), complete with fabulous cocktails and a jazz band playing be-bop.

What movies do you think got the “occult store” just right? Should films ditch the stereotypes and go for a more realistic spell-shop, or do you prefer the fantasy of endless jars and mysterious books?

Tags: film, Metaphysical Shops, movies, New York, occult, Scouting New York