I love the fall. Living in Florida for the past two years was wonderful. I didn't mind the heat that much and it was wonderful walking my dogs in the morning in the middle of January wearing shorts and a hoodie. But, it didn't feel like fall while I was down there. I think I got the most homesick this time of year because of how pretty everything gets up north when the leaves start changing color. I'm sure I'm going to get sick of the cold fast, but for now, I'm loving the Ohio weather. And what's more fall than going to an apple orchard and then watching...
Halloweentown (1998)
At my last station, my coworkers and I discussed the best Halloween movies. I was surprised by how many of them said Halloweentown. Becca watches it every year but I never got around to seeing it and we figured it would be a good one to watch with President Baby. So, we pop into the story on Halloween and we meet a widowed mother who hates Halloween and refuses to let her children take part. She is raising two girls and a boy and only the dude is OK with it. The oldest, Marnie is fed up, the youngest, Sophie is sad, staring out the window watching the trick-or-treaters and Dylan, well you just want to shake him any time he starts talking.
They're about to go to bed, when the grandmother, Aggie comes strutting into the house. Fun fact, the actress, Debbie Reynolds, is the mother of Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher. After being put to bed, Marnie sneaks downstairs to hear her mom and grandmother argue. During the fight, Marnie learns that she's from a powerful family of witches and if she doesn't start training by midnight, she'll lose her powers forever. The mother, Gwen, married a human and decided to leave Halloweentown years ago and is determined to raise her kids without magic. Naturally, all the kids sneak off and follow their unsuspecting grandma to Halloweentown, where there's evil afoot and only the Cromwell family can stop it.
Before I talk about the movie, I have to say, I can't hear the last name Cromwell and not think about the football coach at my old high school. I knew it was impossible and would make no sense, but the whole time I half-expected someone to say "Same old Dick," but alas...
I... liked it. It's a TV movie and that's made obvious by the budget; from the effects and the costumes, it doesn't look great, although I liked the set. One thing I did like was that, despite clearly looking like someone in a costume, everyone there looked different. There were many types of monsters and they were all unique. You watch a lot of sci-fi movies with nothing but aliens, but for some reason, the races don't look that different from humans. I liked the variety in the town and it did seem lived in. I also liked the baddie, Kalabar. When you first see him, he's the smooth-talking and charming mayor, but you can tell there's something behind his friendliness. I love when he's in his "scary final boss form" because he overacts to extreme levels. I always have a soft spot for baddies that are over-the-top cartoon characters.
One thing that puzzles me though; there's a scene in an abandoned movie theater where the baddie appears in his demon form. He's chewing the scenery but then our heroes escape and he reacts like he's in pain when the sunlight touches him. That doesn't make sense, because when we first meet him, he's walking around in the sunlight like it's nothing and his human form does appear to be his normal form.
I also have to mention my absolute favorite part of the movie which made me laugh louder and longer than it should have. Kalabar is fighting with the grandmother and mother and he's overpowering them with his magic. At this point, he's beat them and he's laughing very dramatically. Marnie then convinces her brother and sister to use their powers to help defeat him. As Kalabar is dramatically laughing and taunting them, the young Cromwells step up. Marnie interrupts Kalabar by yelling, "Hey Chocolate Bar!"
I laughed out loud because she got him so good. It doesn't matter if he would have won because everyone heard her call him that and it's going to follow him around forever. People are always going to call him that behind his back and he's going to hate it! You can not come back from that. I think that's why he lost. She got into his head and it was over right then and there.
It's a fun movie and a good gateway to horror for young kids. Or I'm hoping so. Lincoln likes the horror characters, but he's iffy for most horror-adjacent, he did fine during Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, so I'm hoping he's getting there! Anyway, I liked the characters for the most part outside of Dylan. He's insufferable for just about the whole movie. I liked the side characters and inhabitants of the town, the baddie was unbelievably campy which works perfectly for a movie like this. When compared to what Disney puts out today, looking at you Hocus Pocus II, Halloweentown has a certain charm that makes it worth watching. Plus, the low budget and goofy acting are better than what The Mouse regurgitates today.
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