Crazy Fun Park

I absolutely loved this show, and I watched all ten episodes over a couple of days as soon as I stumbled on it on ABC iView.

I found the tone to be fairly light-hearted, and yet, this is a show about (mostly) dead teenagers (or rather, their ghosts) - and as the way they each died unravelled, you may shed some tears like I did. There are some heavy themes throughout, but they were handled with such grace and compassion by the writers and producers of this show.

I definitely would caution parents of young children against watching this, unless you're all ready for some pretty big questions about death, mental health, and the meaning of life.

I thought the acting was wonderful as well, even the characters who seemed less "animated" - this felt intentional.

I know this only just came out, but I very much hope there will be a season 2! :)

This show is an amazing idea that is executed as poorly as possible. To begin, Mapplethorle is downright abusive to his friend yet were asked to sympathize with him. This, in tandem with Clausen's over-acting makes for a downright unbearable character. I'm a HUGE fan of inclusion but this shows hyper fixation is so obsessive that, instead of utilizing it naturally, it turns entire episodes into lectures on pronouns and relationships, which actually stands in its own way. This show celebrates an abusive friendship and fails to find the nuance it needs to make an impact. Absolutely worth skipping.

After Mapplethorpe dies in a feat of stupidity at an abandoned carnival, best friend Chester discovers that Mapplethorpe "lives" each night from dusk til dawn, trapped at the park with a group of other ghostly teenagers who met similar fates. Chester sneaks off to visit nightly -- which interferes with his schooling -- and each episode delves into the life and death of a different character.

I went into this blind and was gripped practically from the start. The characters are lovable, there's not one weak link in the cast (Stacy Clausen is a standout as Mapplethorpe, and Judith Lucy chews the scenery as Chester's teacher/counselor), it moves at a brisk pace, there are some really funny moments, plenty of well-structured drama, and a whole lot of heart. My only two criticisms are that Nimrod's storyline devolved into pure schmaltz, and the big mystery surrounding leader Remus ultimately felt sort of... meh.

The thing that I kept thinking was that it reminded me of the 1980s vampire classic "The Lost Boys." That's certainly not intended as an insult, nor did it seem like some blatant ripoff, but there's a similar dramedy tone and many of the same elements.

With just dead air and bad reality shows coming out of Hollywood at the moment, this Aussie miniseries was a welcome surprise. Highly recommended.

I went into this not really expecting anything since the Goosebumps re-release was such a disappointment.

I went into it with even less expectation because it was Australian. But I was hopeful since it was Australian and I did not know any of the actors so you do not get bogged down with their personal opinions.

It was going well until episodes 5 or 6 where it starts to show more of the B characters personalities, stories and coupling traits. And then by episode 7 we started with the grammar lessons.

From there you are so distracted and irritated by that unwanted and un-useful injected information that you are annoyed and just quit.

Crazy Fun Park is clearly an expansion on (what i would call) "The Boys Trilogy" that Nicholas Verso has created.

The trilogy consists of The Last Time I Saw Richard (2015), Boys In The Trees (2016) and Crazy Fun Park (2023).

Now, if you've seen any of Verso's other films, then you'd know that he really likes the "Lost Boys" style of writing and directing. And as successful as The Last Time I Saw Richard (2015) and Boys In The Trees were (2016), Crazy Fun Park just does not live up to the cult following reputation of those other films.

The acting is mediocre at best, the plot and direction is bland (in comparison to Verso's other projects in this trilogy) and the show itself is way too goofy and comedic. It feels like it's not taking itself seriously enough, which is a real shame, considering the things that resonated with me most about the "The Boys Trilogy" were the dark undertones and atmosphere. Those undertones really set the tone for these films and made them engaging and entertaining to watch. But, this series seemingly scrapped that idea all together and decided to use cheap comedic route to make up for the lack of real any substance.

Moral of the story, all good things must come to an end. But, It was definitely fun while it lasted, and I highly suggest checking out the other films in "The Boys trilogy" if you haven't already!