Overworked plot wherein young teens are forced to move to a weird town. Their new home is a huge fully furnished mansion, clearly worth a million bucks, but they hate it because the door falls off its hinges, it has cobwebs and a spider and looks spooky at night. Its haunted by pathetically boring non-threatening ghosts. Furthermore, their new home town is patterned after the "Eerie Indiana" TV show of the 90's. Their school teachers, bus driver etc are all goofy and talk in rhyme, for no apparent reason. The school principal appears to be out of Harry Potter and wears a monks robe. All of which would be fine if any of the jokes were funny. The writers seem to think kids will laugh at anything remotely silly. Boring gag after gag falls flat until the fast forward key becomes the only salvation. Even young kids are likely to find this film dull and predictable. The producers have spared every expense here and even shun the modern aspect ratio, presenting this shoestring quickie in full screen format. The kid actors are not particularly appealing and are given trite and unconvincing lines. Very forgettable. Your kids deserve better.
5 Reviews
Mundane Kids Movie
saint_brett24 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today absolutely disgusted after watching that atrocious "Halloween 5" last night. (I feel offended.) It's left a nasty aftertaste in my mouth. So I'll try and rinse it out with, what is this again, Goosebumps? Hannah Montana in Horror High, or something? (Guess Barbie's not the "in-thing" anymore?) I can't find my copy of "Hack-o-lantern" so we'll give this Monster Night offering a go.
Clock strikes 12 as the Crypt Keeper, from "Tales of the Crypt," is monitoring a sole child sitting a maths exam. This looks like some standard Disney attempt at a children's PG-13 horror movie.
I can't believe how offensive that "Halloween 5" was last night. I used to worship that movie in year 10.
Is that Vanessa Angel and Fonzy driving the family to this cartoon-inspired mansion?
Yer, give tarantula's another bad wrap.
Already this movie's riddled with tired old cliches.
They keep showing stills of some jack-o-lanterns. Is this a TV movie? Is that where they were cutting to commercials whenever the jack-o-lanterns show up ?
It's not The Fonz, my mistake, it looks more like that nimrod father from "Kool Cat saves the Kids."
An over-enthused family move to California and you would think that the slacker kids would be in need of some ritalin, and display all the hallmarks of hyperdefecit syndrome, but no, it's the parents who are in need of therapy.
Even the teachers of the high school seem to be suffering from a form of mental illness.
For a kids movie there's a slight undertone of sexual sass about it.
Wow, the school nerd is bashed on his first day by the star quarterback number 13, now they're best buddies at the Halloween party.
Was that just a Star Wars trash compactor rip off scene?
I might be wrong, but Isaac Ackerman looks a bit like one of the victims from H20? Is it the same actor?
Wouldn't it be great if life was all PG-13 and perfect like this movie in the real world?
Some problem child goes missing so a handful of trick or treaters get sucked into a mythical world controled by the Crypt Keeper. The graveyard dance scene is lame. (Trying to turn it into a musical, are we?) They're bounced around from Hollywood Blvd., to an observatory, (where The Wonder Years was filmed,) then are elevated through Bill & Ted's telephone to Hades. It's mainly a wild goose chase to nowhere where they battle a horde of badly designed CGI leftovers from Mortal Kombat 2, literally.
This is a kids movie not designed for me. I won't begrudge its place in history as a great movie as it's not for me to say. I'll leave that up to the individual - you.
Clock strikes 12 as the Crypt Keeper, from "Tales of the Crypt," is monitoring a sole child sitting a maths exam. This looks like some standard Disney attempt at a children's PG-13 horror movie.
I can't believe how offensive that "Halloween 5" was last night. I used to worship that movie in year 10.
Is that Vanessa Angel and Fonzy driving the family to this cartoon-inspired mansion?
Yer, give tarantula's another bad wrap.
Already this movie's riddled with tired old cliches.
They keep showing stills of some jack-o-lanterns. Is this a TV movie? Is that where they were cutting to commercials whenever the jack-o-lanterns show up ?
It's not The Fonz, my mistake, it looks more like that nimrod father from "Kool Cat saves the Kids."
An over-enthused family move to California and you would think that the slacker kids would be in need of some ritalin, and display all the hallmarks of hyperdefecit syndrome, but no, it's the parents who are in need of therapy.
Even the teachers of the high school seem to be suffering from a form of mental illness.
For a kids movie there's a slight undertone of sexual sass about it.
Wow, the school nerd is bashed on his first day by the star quarterback number 13, now they're best buddies at the Halloween party.
Was that just a Star Wars trash compactor rip off scene?
I might be wrong, but Isaac Ackerman looks a bit like one of the victims from H20? Is it the same actor?
Wouldn't it be great if life was all PG-13 and perfect like this movie in the real world?
Some problem child goes missing so a handful of trick or treaters get sucked into a mythical world controled by the Crypt Keeper. The graveyard dance scene is lame. (Trying to turn it into a musical, are we?) They're bounced around from Hollywood Blvd., to an observatory, (where The Wonder Years was filmed,) then are elevated through Bill & Ted's telephone to Hades. It's mainly a wild goose chase to nowhere where they battle a horde of badly designed CGI leftovers from Mortal Kombat 2, literally.
This is a kids movie not designed for me. I won't begrudge its place in history as a great movie as it's not for me to say. I'll leave that up to the individual - you.
Disappointing.
jramza-16 October 2016
I like low budget kid thrillers, like goosebumps, or "The Monster Squad." This movie fails terribly on so many levels. Poor CGI, extremely poor music soundtrack which plays almost nonstop - and all but gives a drum beat at the end of each poorly written and executed joke. Scenarios staged as funny are just odd. The target audience is extremely narrow - ages 3-7 at most, maybe even 6 as an upper end limit. Acting is quite forced, over the top, and I'm not sure if it was due to poor acting or poor directing. I honestly can't recommend this movie at all, and I'm perplexed by the handful of reviews here on IMDb that can. I regret feeling greatly misled.
Surprisingly good
moviegirl_4103 February 2007
This movie can be predictable, since it is the usual story about a family moving into a creepy old mansion and the kids trying to convince the parents it's haunted, but they don't believe them until it's too late. To me, it was a little better than one of those others like it, it had some new sparks. The acting was pretty believable, and the jokes were actually funny. The story stayed on track and it moved along smoothly. Not saying any awards should be given, but the critics should have pounded it like they did. It was underrated. 8 out of ten stars.
"Monster Night" delivers...
Wuchakk17 September 2013
...if you're in the mood for a "spooktacular" Goosebumps-like horror film that's fun & silly and not scary at all. It's like Scooby-Doo but without the dog or "Casper" (1995), but without the goofy ghosts and blockbuster budget.
Released to video in 2006, the story has to do with a family who moves to a castle-like home in a new town, which turns out to be haunted and somehow linked to the creepy local school. When the parents (Robert Carradine and Vanessa Angel) go out for the evening the three kids have a Halloween party and the younger brother goes missing. To find him, the two older siblings team-up with the top jock of the school and his girlfriend; misadventures ensue.
The requirements of a film like this are obvious: A good assortment of youthful protagonists, from kids to late-teens? Check. An equally good cast of adults? Check. A quasi-horror ambiance? Check. A fun, silly spirit? Check. Corny, but amusing humor? Check. A simple story with a sense of adventure? Check. An assortment of good-lookin' women, young and older? Check. An energetic and rockin' soundtrack? Check. A runtime that doesn't overstay its welcome (like the Pirates of the Caribbean films)? Check.
Nuff said.
GRADE: B-
Released to video in 2006, the story has to do with a family who moves to a castle-like home in a new town, which turns out to be haunted and somehow linked to the creepy local school. When the parents (Robert Carradine and Vanessa Angel) go out for the evening the three kids have a Halloween party and the younger brother goes missing. To find him, the two older siblings team-up with the top jock of the school and his girlfriend; misadventures ensue.
The requirements of a film like this are obvious: A good assortment of youthful protagonists, from kids to late-teens? Check. An equally good cast of adults? Check. A quasi-horror ambiance? Check. A fun, silly spirit? Check. Corny, but amusing humor? Check. A simple story with a sense of adventure? Check. An assortment of good-lookin' women, young and older? Check. An energetic and rockin' soundtrack? Check. A runtime that doesn't overstay its welcome (like the Pirates of the Caribbean films)? Check.
Nuff said.
GRADE: B-
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