Movies

Foolishly I thought this was a horror, and a few minutes in I realised my error, that it was a family film, worse still an attempt at a family horror, but I did preserve, and to some extent I found it rather satisfying.It's almost like a modern day Goonies, with an adventure for a group of plucky kids. Definitely family entertainment, with no violence or scares, the best entertainment comes from the creepy clown, which is actually very well designed, and wouldn't look out of place in a real horror.It's a bit cliche ridden, but it's watchable. 6/10

A promising set-up with some sprightly, well-edited scripting by Mark L. Smith goes sadly awry in the movie's second half, degenerating into a series of contrived, loosely connected vignettes when each of the young protagonists must face separate horror scenarios. Hackneyed and lackluster, the result is depressingly reminiscent of HOUSE, TROLL, WAXWORK, and all such tepidly similar episodic monster flicks from back in the '80s. Director Joe Dante has since claimed that his intent was a return to "suburban horror" of 30 years ago; even if true, the movie would have been best left in its time capsule, wrapped in Hammertime harem pants.