I’m not sure whose brain child Kibosh was, but I’m not so sure we needed a villain for Casper. So apparently, there are ghosts, there are friendly ghosts, and there are—uh—bad ghosts? Or super ghosts? In either case, the Casper franchise continues its downward slump in the awfully mediocre “Casper’s Scare School.” This time around Casper best friends with a lonely boy named Jimmy. Jimmy has a big soccer game and Casper is helping him become a great athlete. But after getting scared by Jimmy, Casper’s embarrassment is discovered all over the ghost realm.
Tag Archives: Adaptation
Casper’s Haunted Christmas (2000)
Less budget, and less stars, this time Casper’s adventures are reduced to a pretty crummy animated feature where Casper teams up with another spunky young girl. She’s a girl facing a crisis about Christmas and she needs the help of… Casper. Makes sense, I guess. “Casper’s Haunted Christmas” is a noticeably bargain basement style production compared to the previous movies, all the while the animation is often weird and the narrative nonsensical.
Casper Meets Wendy (1998)
Well if anything “Casper Meets Wendy” is much better than “A Spirited Beginning” despite offering no big surprises. Unless you consider that the only cast member that’s been in most “Casper” movies so far is Pauly Shore. In the former film he played a bad ghost, and here he plays a fortune telling magical mirror. As with most of these movies, there is a whole cast of D list celebrities, and the adaptation of Harvey Comics’ “Wendy The Good Little Witch” is an excuse to introduce future teen star Hilary Duff. To her credit Duff is adorable.
Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997)
I, for one, quite loved the big screen reboot of “Casper” with Christina Ricci. As a kid I loved its human elements and fun atmosphere. And then they kind of ruined it with a bunch of direct to video sequels and prequels that stunk. “A Spirited Beginning” is one of many that completely copies the formula of the original movie, with performances that are oh so much worse.
Hold the Dark (2018)
With a Jeremy Saulnier movie there’s always the feeling of hopelessness and existential dread. Saulnier is a man who doesn’t let his characters or his audience off easily, opting for narratives that explore the bleakness of life, and how remorseless human beings can be. With “Blue Ruin” and “Green Room,” Saulnier kept the audience in a choke hold and didn’t relent until the end credits, and he continues that tradition with “Hold The Dark” a flawed but stellar thriller about the darkness in the human soul and how it easily connects with the darkness of the wild. “Hold the Dark” is about the darkest and bleakest film Saulnier has yet to deliver to fans, because his new cinematic offering relies on slow mounting terror and inherent menace.
5 Ways “Fear the Walking Dead” Redeemed Itself in Season Four
“Fear The Walking Dead” is to “The Walking Dead” what “Law & Order: SVU” is to “Law & Order.” It’s another series in the same universe but with its own scenarios and characters. It’s unfortunately taken three years to find its footing, despite its very good ratings. It packed with it a great cast of Cliff Curtis, Kim Dickens, Ruben Blades, as well as a ton of diverse side characters, but still never quite took off as a strong tale about the apocalypse. Now with its soft reboot and a new cast the series is better than ever, in spite of the audience kind of dropping it by the wayside. Regardless, season four was a huge step up for “Fear the Walking Dead” and I hope season five continues down this path with an even better, stronger villain.
Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder (1998): Special Edition [Blu-Ray]
Whether you know it as “Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder,” “Shadowbuilder,” “Bram Stoker’s Shadow Builder,” or jut “Shadow Builder,” Jamie Dixon’s 1998 horror fantasy is an okay genre entry. While stumbling here and there in visual effects, the STV horror flick makes for a neat diversion with genre vets at the helm. Dixon’s horror fantasy is one of the last remnants of the video store/Pay Per View age, where horror was mostly relegated to trenches. I never gave it much of a chance when it was heavily promoted on cable back in 1998, but watching it now, it’s aged considerably well, garnering the old fashioned late night cable flavor I miss so much.