Spooky Mini-Review #8: Nelly Rapp: Monster Agent

Nelly Rapp: Monster Agent is a Swedish movie from 2020 where a young girl named Nelly spends fall break with her uncle Hannibal and learns that he’s actually a Monster Agent, someone who hunts down monsters. Perhaps it’s a bit of a spoiler, but this is another one of those stories where the monsters aren’t quite as monstrous as they initially appear. Although the English dubbing isn’t really the best (especially for the adult characters, most of whom speak in a rather stiff fashion), the movie was otherwise pretty entertaining, and I really liked Nelly’s new monster friend. I’d definitely recommend checking this one out if you’re looking for a family-friendly, atmospheric movie for Halloween. It can even be found for free on Youtube!

Random Mini-Review #1: A Monster in Paris Plus Bonus Story

A Monster in Paris is a French animated movie from 2011 that was inspired by The Phantom of the Opera.  I originally assumed this would be a good choice for October based on the titular monster, but it turned out the insectoid creature was not really as dangerous as initially believed.  The animation in this movie looks great, the humor might make you smile, but not outright laugh, and the songs are okay.  Generally, it was a pretty fun little tale with a wholesome message that I would recommend checking out if you’re a fan of animated movies.  As of writing this review, YouTube was offering the movie for free with ads.

Spooky Mini-Review #6: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980)

Yesterday, I wrote a very brief review about one of our favorite versions of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the 1999 version made by Hallmark. Well, we were blessed with a delightfully stormy night and decided we’d watch another version of the famous ghost story, considering we had the perfect ambiance to accompany it. This version can be found for free on Youtube and stars Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod Crane.

Spooky Mini-Review #5: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Mother Duck and I stumbled upon this TV adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow quite by accident years ago, and it’s since become one of our favorite versions of the story. Not only is the movie just well done, it includes a more accurate portrayal of Ichabod Crane, whom I had originally not realized was such a creep. Sure, he’s a likable creep, but considering he’s arrogant, dishonest, and only likes Katrina for her money, he’s still a creep, nonetheless. The actor who potrayed him did an excellent job bringing to life the lanky schoolteacher. My only complaint was that the ending felt a bit abrupt, though I suppose the story often ends abruptly in other adaptations, as well. They spend so much time building up the Headless Horseman, only for the ghoul to get very little screen time. This version is still worth watching and can be found for free on YouTube. Just look for the 1999 version made by Hallmark on the FilmRise channel.

Spooky Mini-Review #4: The Worst Witch

The Worst Witch from 1986 follows a bumbling young witch named Mildred Hubble who is attending Miss Cackle’s International Academy for Witches. We had never seen this movie before, but we decided to give it a try when we found it for free on YouTube. The movie is very corny and features some pretty cheap special effects, Mildred herself can be a tad annoying, and it also includes a few songs, and they’re not particularly good ones, either. Nevertheless, Mother Duck and I still enjoyed this cheesy little kid’s movie, and it does feature a song performed by Tim Curry that is so terrible, it’s kind of amazing. The whole movie is probably worth watching just for that song alone.

Spooky Mini-Review #3: Paranorman

We found this particular movie for free on the Roku channel. Paranorman is a stop-motion movie from 2012 about a boy who can talk to the dead. Of course, no one believes him until an old curse breaks loose, resurrecting several zombies in the process. The movie was a lot of fun and even features some good plot twists. Plus, I always love some well done stop-motion!

Spooky Mini-Review #1: Monster House

With Halloween approaching, Mother Duck and I have been seeking out spooky-silly movies to watch. Recently, we decided to give Monster House another try, an animated kid’s movie from 2006 where the neighbor’s house comes to life. I actually saw the movie in theaters and wasn’t a fan. But this time, I actually liked it a lot more than I remembered. For a kid’s movie, there were some surprisingly spooky moments, plus plenty of humorous ones, as well. The movie is currently free with ads on Amazon Prime, so if you can, definitely check it out!

Ranking Rankin Bass Christmas Specials

Earlier this year, I wrote about a dozen reviews covering various Rankin/Bass Christmas specials, which was made possible due to some DVD collections we bought containing a bunch of their work that I had never heard of before.  This was generally a fun endeavor (even if a few were rather painful to watch), but I just realized that I had failed to actually rank them.  (You could say that these specials were made for…Rankin…what?)  So today, I shall be ranking every Rankin/Bass Christmas special that I’ve seen from worst to best.  It will not include A Miser Brothers Christmas from 2008, which was actually made by Warner Bros.  Oh, and if you’re curious about full reviews, then here’s a link to my last review of Jack Frost from 1979, which includes links to most of the others at the bottom.

Jack Frost (1979) Review

For this particular week of Rankin/Bass reviews, I’ve just got one movie for you all, Jack Frost from 1979.  (Because, frankly, I’m tuckered out after writing roughly a dozen reviews!)  This is yet another Rankin/Bass Christmas special that I had never seen before, but which I had heard good things about.  While it was a bit more difficult for me to find this one, I think it was worth the effort.

The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) Review

This week, we’re focusing on Rankin/Bass origin stories for Santa Claus.  Last time, we discussed one of my favorite Christmas specials, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970).  Today, however, we are reviewing the more obscure The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (1985), which is based off the story of the same name by L. Frank Baum, the very same author of The Wizard of Oz!