Released on the 14th of October, ‘The Curse of Bridge Hollow’ is Netflix’s latest addition to its Halloween catalog. Directed by Jeff Wadlow, famously known for truth, dare fantasy island, and Are you afraid of the dark? The story follows the Gordon family as they move into a new town on Halloween. The decision to move from Brooklyn and the dislike of Halloween causes a riff between Howard Gordon (played by Marlon Wayan) and his Daughter Sydney (played by Priah Ferguson).
After being convinced by a few new friends that their new house is haunted, Sydney finds and mistakenly lights Jack’s lantern, and all the Halloween decorations in town come to life. Howard would have to set his fear of Halloween aside and join Sydney to stop the spread of paranormal activity before it’s too late.
‘The Curse of Bridge Hollow’ has an impressive cast that includes Marlon Wayans, Priah Ferguson, Destiny Child’s Kelly Rowan, Myles Perez, Rob Riggle, Nia Vardalos, and Lauren Lapkus, to name a few. This cast already gives you an idea of what type of movie you’re about to watch, and most give solid performances.
Priah Ferguson plays a similar role as her ‘Stranger Things’ disposition, Erica Sinclair, making her character quite rude for a 14-year-old. Although the chemistry between Sydney and Howard’s character would have been ideal, it gets a little too much and a bit overbearing. Sydney being unnecessarily mean to her dad and cursing makes me question the demographic this movie aims to appease.
Although he tries hard, Howard’s character is plagued by the curse of Marlon Wayan, who plays similar roles in most of his onscreen roles. This results in Howard coming across as childish most of the time, even when his Daughter needs him the most.
The jokes are a hit or miss. Some would make you laugh, and the rest will come across as deadpan humor, which works a few times. The pacing is quite smooth, with scenes having acceptable lengths without dragging on for long – straight to the point.
They talk about having conversations in the movie that are never shown to us. Even though the movie is targeted at a younger audience, it sometimes feels a bit incoherent, leaving many plot holes in its wake.
This film has some impressive shots making the film feel like a solid quality of work. It also has a few remarkable sequences that are enhanced by the score.
For a family-friendly movie, the special effects are pretty good and sometimes are too good that they could scare kids. An example is the hall of horror scene where clowns chase down the kids. It has a dark and scary tone that is the nightmare of young kids. I wouldn’t want to see scary murder clowns chase my friends or me. I will freak out.
The special effects, coupled with the dialogue, make it’s supposed target demographic confusing. The script feels like it was written for a young audience, but the language and special effects end up being too advanced and graphic for the audience.
The incredible costumes would surely put you in the Halloween spirit and make you get excited to put up scary props. That’s one thing the movie got right.
Some scenes in ‘The Curse of Bridge Hollow’ have cursing, adult jokes, and scary tones and are unsettling, considering the ‘family’ friendly tag the movie was trying to set itself to be. If you’re looking for a fun movie you could watch with 15-year-olds, this is the movie for you.
