Director – Jeff Wadlow (Cry_Wolf, Are You Afraid of the Dark?)
Starring – Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, Senseless), Priah Ferguson (Stranger Things, Hamster and Gretel), and John Michael Higgins (Vampire’s Kiss, Blade: Trinity)
Release Date – 2022
Rating – 3/5
I watch horror movies year-round so when October rolls around I try to focus on films that are at least centered around Halloween. I don’t care the genre because I’m looking for something to put me in the holiday spirit rather than something spooky. I’m a sucker for children’s Halloween flicks so when I heard that Netflix was releasing the film The Curse of Bridge Hollow starring Marlon Wayans and Stranger Thing’s Priah Ferguson I knew I had to see it. It wasn’t horror, but I damn sure included it on my October horror binge.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows the Gordon family who moves to a sleepy small town from the city. As everyone is decorating for Halloween, Howard (Wayans) stays away from the holiday and bases everything on science. That begins to change when his daughter accidentally unleashes the spirit of Stingy Jack when she finds a carved turnip in their attack. Now they must stop him before he possesses the town’s Halloween decorations. **Spoiler alert**
The Curse of Bridge Hollow is not going to be for everyone. However, my kids fucking loved it and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a good time with it. It’s a Halloween themed children’s movie that made up for it’s lack of story with some laughs and enjoyable characters.
The acting in this one is a lot of fun. The film is meant for children so we get a lot of characters with big personalities that carry the scene. Wayans and Ferguson work very well together and they really did a fantastic job as a father daughter pair. Ferguson slowly became one of the more popular cast members on Stranger Things with her character gaining more and more screen time each season. It’s obvious why because she steals every scene she is in which is something to note since she shares a lot of them with Wayans. It was also cool to see Rob Riggle and John Michael Higgins in the film. Higgins had a very unexpected performance as a character I was not expecting to see him take on. I had a lot of fun with the cast in this one.
The story for this one was hit or miss. The story is oddly similar to Spirit Halloween: The Movie with an evil spirit possessing Halloween decorations. However, it does separate itself from there with the introduction of traditional Halloween decorations like carved turnips, spiritualism from the 1920s and 30s, and the legend of Stingy Jack. The story does have some glaring gaps in it but it is still fun for a Halloween flick while you set the mood for the season.
Finally, the film has no blood but it does have some impressive visual effects mixed with some rushed visual effects. The two do contrast at times but a good bit of the film looks great. Overall, The Curse of Bridge Hollow is one that many of you will overlook but if you dig movies like Ernest Scared Stupid, Double Double Toil and Trouble, and binging Halloween episodes of 90s television shows then you will like this one. Check it out.
