The Curse of Bridge Hollow

I should probably admit up front that I'm not a big fan of Halloween and all the "spooky" mumbo-jumbo that we are bombarded with every October. Needless to say, that means I have extremely low expectations when sitting through Halloween films for kids. When my wife convinced me to watch The Curse of Bridge Hollow, I'm sad to say it lived down to those expectations. The story here is extremely straightforward and feels familiar, like one you've seen in a hundred other movies like this one. It's the familiar trope of an evil spirit brought to town by an ancient curse, and a magical spell that must be cast to stop the attack. In fact, it has a lot in common with Hocus Pocus, so fans of that movie might have a good time with this one as well. I'm not one of those people, but I'm married to one.

My biggest struggle with this movie is that it lacks humor. It is fighting for some laughs, and only got me chuckling a few times. Most of the humor that worked for me was exclusively because I like Rob Riggle's goofy personality, and some of John Michael Higgins' schtick. Nothing Marlon Wayans did was even slightly humorous to me. Priah Ferguson plays his daughter and she ends up being more of an annoying nag than anything else. I don't really understand why we're expected to laugh at Kelly Rowland making vegan treats that everyone finds disgusting, or at the paranormal kids club, or even at Lauren Lapkus and her exaggerated accent. The film has some slightly scary images (in particular some homicidal clowns) but it's not enough to satisfy real horror fans, just enough to make it a tough sell for young kids. I can't really recommend The Curse of Bridge Hollow, but I will say if it looks like something you'll like then you're probably right, and if it looks bad to you then just skip it.

A funny and entertaining film made in a similar sprit to Jack Black's "Goosebumps". It unfolds like a children's story appealing to the general audience. Although rated TV14 for a few cusswords such as "ass", artificial characters in the film walk and behave more funny and cute ways than scary and intimidating. Nonetheless, there are a few clowns that might look too scary for kids under 8.

A happy-go-lucky family moves to the sleepy town of Bridge Hallow from Brooklyn, NY. A lawyer mom who cook cookies that taste like marbles, a science teacher father who is scared of bones, and a 14 years old girl who digs ghosts and Halloween, find themselves in a town that religiously celebrates the Halloween.

I watched the trailer and was hyped because I thought it was giving The Haunted Mansion comedy vibes... well it is light hearted and coded for family watch but the comedy just didn't hit me right.

The dad in this was just forcing his character of "Hey look at me I hate anything not explained by science and if you don't agree I'm judging you" that he came out overly one dimensional and preachy. Which I can digress don't always come out bad but for this one specifically, the dad was just doing the bit over and over and over (for the good 60 minutes of a 90 minute movie) that it quickly got stale.

They did give him some backstory for why he acted the way he did but it was very last minute in feel so it didn't really excuse anything.

The vibes reminded me of Me Time movie featuring Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg, I think if you liked that sort of comedy then you might like this?

Warning: There's some mild profanity in this for those who care about that bit in family movies.

This movie was barely tolerable, primarily due to the fact that Priahs performance was awful. No emotion or expression. Monotone and forced. She was good in stranger things but fell short in this film. Kelly Rowland was subpar. Marlons acting was fine but his character wasnt likeable. Dont even get me started on the mayors accent🙄. This is basically something to watch when youve finished all your halloween favorites, if you remember it exists because lets be honest, its forgettable. Which sucks because the potential was so there, the plot was good but the characters just werent strong enough to support.

I really can't believe all of these bad ratings. This was a great kids Halloween film and it was actually scary in parts and I'm an adult. There were some laugh out loud scenes as well as good special effects and jumps. It is an all around entertaining family film. It definitely exceeded my expectations. Marlon Wayans was great in the lead and had great chemistry with the actress who plays his daughter and of course his wife. Scenes with spiders and clowns literally were creepy. I jumped in several parts and was surprised by that given it is a children's film. Those who are bashing it need to lighten up. What did you expect....an Oscar worthy film?