Spirit Halloween Review

Spirit Halloween Review

Spirit Halloween is exactly what you think it is. A safe, generally entertaining family horror film. There might be more care put into the production than you would expect for a story centered around the seasonal pop-up franchise, but there is the exact number of surprises.

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Spirit Halloween

Directed by David Poag

Written by Billie Bates

Starring Donovan Colan, Marissa Reyes, Rachael Leigh Cook and Christopher Lloyd

Spirit Halloween Review

My gateway into horror movies was The Monster Squad. I still watch it often. Spirit Halloween might be that gateway for younger viewers…though I doubt anyone will be revisiting it decades from now. While it plays like a lower budget Goosebumps…there is enough care put into the making of the movie that you won’t regret your time with it. Especially if you have kids interested in breaking into the genre with a safe movie.

Three kids who feel they’ve outgrown trick or treating decide to spend the night locked inside a Spirit Halloween store. When the animatronics in the store become possessed by a cursed spirit, they must find a way to survive the night.

Everything unfolds in Spirit Halloween the exact way that you expect it to. The movie isn’t interested in defying expectations or thinking outside of the box. The challenge Spirit Halloween does tackle is turning what appears to be a quick sponsored cash in into a worthwhile movie. To that end, Spirit Halloween is probably better than you expect it to be.

Knowing that they can’t push too hard with the horror of it all the script wisely focuses on creating relatable characters and relationships. This is a movie about growing up. It’s about friendship and first love and family. A coming-of-age story at heart. It’s also about running from possessed monsters in search of a human host. Basically, there’s more going on than you would expect.

It’s also completely predictable and made for younger viewers. There’s no blood or gore and the jump scares aren’t the kind that will keep them up at night. The messaging of the movie is unambiguously positive. Everything is resolved in a happy way and tied in a bow. I guess that could be seen as spoiler territory but like I said it’s a kid’s movie…you know what’s going to happen.

The cast does a fine job. Only the tween leads get any real kind of development and spotlight. Young actors can be hit and miss but the group here is perfectly serviceable. Rachael Leigh Cook gets the most to do among the adult actors and she doesn’t phone in her underwritten part. Christopher Lloyd appears in what amounts to a cameo and voice performance.

The biggest surprise of Spirit Halloween is that director David Poag and writer Billie Bates pull a fully formed movie out of a very thin plot. I think tweens could find themselves engaged in the characters and their real-world centric problems…but even they may find the film too light on scares. Family friendly is the name of the game here.

There really isn’t much to say about Spirit Halloween other than that. The important thing is that if you find yourself in need of a movie that can entertain younger viewers without giving them nightmares, Spirit Halloween is a decent entry into that specific film type. Adults won’t get much out of it…but the movie is well made enough to elevate it to watchable fare.

Scare Value

If you have kids interested in horror but not ready to handle suspense and actual scares…you could do worse than Spirit Halloween. Recent release My Best Friend’s Exorcism for example. You could also do better. I’m telling you; The Monster Squad still holds up! The good news is that the people behind and in front of the camera give you about as much as the slight setup would allow them to. It’s not trying to be anything more than a safe horror movie you can pop on with the family after the trick or treating is done…and it succeeds at it. Veteran horror fans need not enter.

2.5/5