The film opens on October 31st, during a year that occurred a long time ago. We see a man named Alec Windsor (Christopher Lloyd) visiting Sacred Hearts, a home for Wayward Children, bringing a final notice and claiming their land now belongs to him. The previous owners now have forty-eight hours to vacate before bulldozers enter and take the place down. However, an awful curse is cast upon Alec, causing him to fall to the ground, but his spirit flees up in the air.
In the present day, we are introduced to three teenagers who are also great friends: Jake (Donovan Colan), Carsen (Dylan Martin), and Bo (Jaiden J. Smith). The trio loves riding their bikes around town and hanging out together. Based on their conversations, we learn that they are all excited about the upcoming Halloween season. After riding their bikes around the area, they stumble upon a retail store known as Spirit Halloween. With excitement, the three decide to walk in and check it out. The store has costumes, scary props, and many other fun products. While looking around, Carsen reveals that he wants to skip Trick or Treating, claiming that Halloween is starting to feel childish now that he’s growing up. Jake is unimpressed to hear the news, as the three have always celebrated Halloween together in the past. At home, Jake is also struggling with new changes in his family, affecting his plans and desires surrounding Halloween. Jake convinces Carsen and Bo to do something radical and creepy, even though Carsen is happy to skip it. Instead of staying at home watching a movie or knocking on doors asking for candy, Jake plans an evening for him and his friends to stay inside the local Spirit Halloween store overnight. However, after entering the store, the three boys find themselves trapped inside, and they soon find more than they bargained for when they discvoer a ghostly spirit among them. Can Jake and his friends survive the night and find a way to defeat the strange spirit that is stalking them?
“Spooky Halloween” is best described as a horror film, but to my surprise, the film is more suitable for a family audience, with the quality of a Disney midday movie or even an episode of Goosebumps. The film, overall, is quite playful, offering minor scares and a predictable yet straightforward mystery. The location where the film is set, a Halloween retail store, is awesome and feels welcoming as a Halloween film. Our leads are surrounded by many Halloween-related items, costumes, and toys, making the atmosphere feel like a treat.
Overall, viewers seeking a family-style ghost story around Halloween will find some treats within “Spirit Halloween” as a movie. It’s a good concept that feels familiar, such as a Disney midday film or an episode of Goosebumps. Mostly, it’s harmless fun, and the film’s setting, location, and atmosphere are great; the same could be said about the young actors who also do well here. However, the film also plays a fun trick on its audiences, particularly surrounding actor Christopher Lloyd, who has been marketed as a leading actor but is hardly in the movie apart from a key opening scene. In the end, combined with a few minor factors and disappointments, including the film’s weak finale and watching our leads bicker too often, it’s still passable as a family feature.
* This review has been written for Sanity. For more reviews from Walkden Entertainment, check out the link here: www.walkdenentertainment.com