Casper

A ghost-whispering paranormal expert and his daughter (Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci) move into a dilapidated mansion on the coast of Maine that's haunted by a friendly ghost and three mischievous ones. Cathy Moriarty plays the venal heir of the mansion and Eric Idle her assistant.

"Casper" (1995) delivers the goods 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 and the teens are tweens. "Monster Night" (2006) and "Ghostbusters" (1984) are other reference points, but I prefer "Monster Night," which has a similar plot, but is all-around more entertaining (even though it cost significantly less) and has a superior assortment of good-lookin' women, young and older. With "Caspar" there's Moriarty, but she plays the biyatch antagonist. There's also ricci, but she was only 14 during shooting, although she's effective in the role.

The movie runs 1 hour, 40 minutes and was shot at Universals City, California, with establishing shots of Rockport, Maine.

GRADE: B-/C+

There's something enormously touching about this film and the way it deals with losses -- Pullman's wife and Casper's mother, in particular. And what's so clever about it is how it uses them as a tool of audience manipulation AND has the evil ghosts use Pullman in exactly the same way that we're being used. This is a smartly written screenplay. The story itself is pretty conventional and predictable: the loner girl gets teased by a popular girl (that nobody really likes) who's out to destroy her; the popular girl has a cute boyfriend that the loner girl has the hots for, etc. etc., story will resolve itself with everyone falling in love with loner girl.

I can't quite understand why this movie has such a low rating. The only explanation I can think of is that people prefer emotionally "safe" movies like "Toy Story" (of the same year) that are equally brilliant technically (and have as many references), but don't sacrifice coolness by showing sentimental, sad emotion. It's possible that the movie got marketed incorrectly. The film isn't about spooks; like one of those early, wonderful Tim Burton fantasies (this film also shares with them an outstanding score), the film deals -- quite movingly, I think -- with regaining that lost sense of childhood: that moment where Casper tries to remember being alive is just wrenching. And the scene relates just as profoundly to us: just as he can't remember being alive, we can't, really, remember being kids. I was ten when I first saw this, and it had an effect on me then (Ricci's description of sunny side-up eggs making her gag subconsciously made me avoid anything less than hard boiled for ten years); this is something that I really cherish as being part of my young emotional and visual education, and it stands up today.

I haven't seen the director's other films, so I have no idea whether this whole thing was a fluke or whether everything just settled in to my particular sensibility, but even outside of the emotion I think the technical aspects, the giant basement set, are enough to keep interest. And even outside of that, the acting is terrific. Cathy Moriarty is an absolute riot. 7/10

Forget the story. Forget the characters; forget even the kids and rent this just to be able to see Whipstaff Manor.

For me a film can be rewarding if just one element (in practical terms, it has to be an element I can recognize) is best in class. Here, it is the absolutely engaging set.

At the end of the 19th century, a style of art, essentially a fad, swept over Europe: Art Nouveau. This focused on natural forms and continuous lines. Done well in drawing and sculpture, its quite charming. At the same time, there was a crisis in architecture as the first real architects sought solutions to how internal space affects the psyche. For only a decade or so, architects tried to employ art nouveau in their work.

The problem is that the two just don't naturally mix: it's as if someone tried to do a swimmingpool production of Hamlet. But two geniuses partly succeeded in a few experiments: Horta in Brussels and Gaudi in Barcelona. In their lives their experiments were rejected by the public and critics. Today, they are among only a few valued gems of modern architectural history we have.

So much for background. What we have in Whipstaff Manor is a reworking of Gaudi, with some elements of Horta in entry and staircase. This is notable for a couple reasons:

---The primary mission of a film is to convey a tone, ideally an unfamiliar one. Sometimes cinematography is the tool of reliance, sometimes costumes, sometimes surreal plot twists, rarely acting posture. Rarely, rarely is the set the star. The goal of Gaudi was to (in a very literal sense) raise spirits by the form of the space. See how you feel in the bedroom/corridor and `livingroom' spaces. The attic was done by a lesser talent and the cellar isn't part of this discussion. But the main house draws on some deeply spooky center of the mind.

---The second notable comment is the sheer difficulty of what the set designers have done. Gaudi, an absolute master, had difficulty pulling off what he did. Here, the Casperites had an even greater challenge: when I go in a space, the relationship between me and the space is intimate; just a simple dialog. But when the space is presented through a medium, the designers have to dramatically exaggerate elements so the combined effect appears `normal.' Its the same as with what actors must do as compared to ordinary people you encounter; but an environment is more complex, more multidimensional, less semiotically loaded than a person. Mastering this greater palette of form is remarkable, and that's before you even accommodate the physical needs of production (camera placement, sound wiring...)

Check this out; it's interesting. Just based on the set, I place this in my best films list.

Ever since i was six years of age, I've enjoyed this movie. It makes me laugh, cry, and excited! i am disappointed that so many people don't like this movie. it is an all-time favorite of mine. It is sad yes, but it has comic relief from the three uncles that try to be humanlike, Casper, the friendly ghost that knows what it is like to be lonely, for instance me, and same with Kat. I am very touched with this film, for it makes me think about me, lonely and depressed, but it has a positive ending which I really adored! i also liked the amazing effects, that were famous at its, time. Of course now, effects from movies are like The Matrix films and LOTR, but i mainly like this film, because it tocuhes my heart in a both sad and sometimes happy, knowing, someone else is out there for you, even if you are a bit...dead. 10/10

The 1995 film Casper came in the wake of a number of high profile films based on older properties. Some, like The Addams Family, Maverick, and Flintstones managed to achieve impressive box office and/or critical praise while others such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Car 54, Where Are You?, or Richie Rich were met with derision and scorn from critics and audiences. Casper falls somewhere towards to the upper end of the spectrum making it better than Flintstones by a considerable margin, but not nearly as funny or memorable as The Addams Family. Casper, based on the Harvey Comics character turned star of Famous Studios' series of theatrical shorts, follows the titular friendly ghost as he deals with the schemes of heiress Carrigan Crittenden(played delightfully over the top by Cathy Moriarty), his brash abrasive uncles The Ghostly Trio, a grieving paranormal psychologist and his outsider daughter, and a whole host of shenanigans from either the living or the dead. Needless to say there's elements I'm leaving out because they're either resolved to quickly to be of merit or contribute nothing to the movie.

First the good. The performances are energized and give this movie the life it needs to justify itself. Regardless of the quality of the material, everyone here is bringing their A game be it Eric Idle as the put upon yes man, Bill Pullman as the quirky paranormal psychologist, Christina Ricci as the outsider daughter, and even Devon Sawa as Casper. Helping the performances is the amazing production design which helps create an incredible looking haunted house that feels almost like Disney's Haunted Mansion ride with more polish(though sometimes the film does feel a bit too much like a theme park ride in certain segments). The effects to create the ghosts are also quite impressive for the time, as they're designed very similarly to Jim Carrey's effects from The Mask with cartoonish exaggerations and elasticity that make them feel dynamic and alive(no pun intended).

The Negatives. The script has problems finding pacing and direction. There's no one single story pulling the characters from scene to scene, the instigating plot involving Carrigan looking for a secret Treasure takes up the first 10 minutes of the movie and then is brought back for maybe 12 minutes towards the end of the movie. Scenes just kind of go from one to the next as there's really no callback style jokes or running gags linking the comic set pieces together, nor are there really character building scenes as they feel like islands without much thought to placement in a larger narrative.

The movie is written by Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver, better known for their work on shows like Animaniacs and Tiny Toons Adventures and there's definitely a lot of their comic style on display with the Ghostly Trio who spout pop culture references and insults(with a surprising amount of hells and damns thrown in but that's honestly not much of a concern for me), but much of their comic scenes feel at odds with other scens that try to seriously address the nature of death and grief(including a very well staged scene where Casper looks over his sled remembering how he died) and the tone will whiplash from Snarky, to Zany, to serious sometimes within only a few seconds.

Casper is the kind of movie you wish were better than it is. There's clear talent on display be it the production design, the direction, the acting, and even the special effects, but it's unfortunately weighed down by a lack of focus and can feel like a scattershot imitator of Beetlejuice with its teeth filed down. It's got good moments, they just don't come together as well as they should.