Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: A group of friends decide to spend their Halloween locked inside the titular, holiday store as zany antics ensue.
Review: Well...this movie is about as good as you'd expect for a glorified product placement to be. So there's that, right? Realistically, "Spirit Halloween" is a cornball kids movie with G-rated scares and themes. This film feels like a lame attempt at an episode of "Goosebumps" yet lacks the twists or characterizations of that series. With that said, I do think this movie can present adequate family viewing for most ages of kids. However, if you're an adult watching this solo, or with other adults, you are going to be sorely disappointed.
On the positive side of things, the film is exceptionally short. Despite this, the story was too shallow and still dragged at times; this could have easily been cut down into a 30 minute TV episode. This story tries to be heartfelt, and I guess it could be in the simplest of ways, but there is this lack of seriousness to anything. For example, the movie wants you to feel like the kids are in danger, meanwhile, these same kids are shooting the monsters with wannabe-Nerf guns. C'mon. Beyond this, the acting, special effects, music, etc. are all by the books levels of average; often times, things dip below average, but I kind of expect levels of mediocrity from this sort of movie.
The main reason why "Spirit Halloween" fails is that it lacks any heart--it has this hollow, AI generated vibe. This isn't to say it's a complete waste of time since it has merit for introducing little kids to horror or something to pop on for early Halloween night. I guess it's that lingering fact that this is merely promotional material for the stores themselves that leaves such a nasty taste in many viewers' mouths. While I do acknowledge that as a massive fault, I could mostly overlook that if it weren't for the sheer blandness to every aspect of the film making. Overall, this is a big pile of meh but at least made relatively competent.
Notable Moment: When the sister gets possessed. The setup is so painfully stupid with her magically tripping over some bouncy balls.
Final Rating: 5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment