It is a performances centric movie

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

I ought to start by saying that Halloween is my favorite holiday. It is only 4 months away. I miss being a kid where you'd go from house to house trick or treating. I haven't gone since I was 14. Over the years, they've made lots of Halloween movies, usually kids movies and you can find them on TV like on ABC Family during Halloween. You can also find some random Halloween movies you haven't heard of like at RedBox during Halloween. Most of the Halloween movies are kids movies, and a lot of them seem more cheesy than they are scary. This movie is a great Halloween movie, and I could consider it the best one. It seems like a more entertaining film to watch on a big screen than Hocus Pocus which is like the most watched Halloween movie and which made the movie theaters.So, I watched this movie today after my work shift got cancelled because of the bad weather. It wasn't the only time I had seen it, I saw it a few years ago on my computer. I bought my own copy of the DVD at the SuperMarket during October 2013 but I hadn't watched my DVD copy of it yet and I decided to watch it today. This movie seemed to entertain me more today than when I watched it on my computer. Enough where I'd give it a 10. I even thought of the movie as a little scary, and there was a scene that made me move back on my chair and gasp. It definitely felt worth my time. I like this movie as it's an entertaining Halloween movie. The characters in the movie seem realistic. We have Cassie who is played by Emily Osment and instead of being the blonde we recognize her for she is a goth. We also have her little brother Max who wants to be close to his older sister, but she gets annoyed at him and he is scared of everything. We have Sean who is the cool guy in the school and Priscilla who is a popular school girl, but enemies with Cassie. This movie makes you feel a little at home and can even get you in the Halloween spirit early. It's also cool how this movie was filmed in my home state, Pennsylvania in Cranberry Township where my sister used to live by Pittsburgh. I felt like this was better done than most of R.L. Stine's work. Or, I would even consider this number 1 of what he made and possibly the best Halloween movie. We seem to get to know the characters better in this one, and you can even find out which character you're like on the DVD menu by answering questions about how you'd handle scary situations. But, the real thing that helped me from this movie in a positive way. Lots of movies will try to leave you with good messages that can be helpful in life and characters that can be role models or characters we can relate to. This movie will show messages like caring for family, and bravery, but here is how the movie helped me for a more personal example. I've graduated from college, and I'll admit I'm not the best at doing homework assignments without help, at times it can be hard for me to understand the material and I've had lots of tutors over the years. Even at college, my mom had set me up with a tutor who was even younger than I am. I used to feel super embarrassed that she was my tutor feeling like none of the other students had one. I tried to keep working with her a secret and felt ashamed at myself for having tutors in life. But, then there's Sean is this movie. He is a cool handsome friendly guy that's like every girls dream in the school. He needs help on a paper coming up that he's afraid if he doesn't get it he'll fail the paper as it's one of his weaknesses. He isn't afraid to ask for help as he knows he needs it. Though, we don't really think less of Sean because of it. He doesn't even seem to have a disability just not a strength at writing papers like Cassie and Priscilla. But, that doesn't keep him from being a cool likable character. So, this R.L. Stine movie had a character who helped me out in real life where I figured if I needed help I should ask for it, and I don't have to think less of myself because of it or have to hide it anymore. It's nice if movies can impact your life that much, it's a really positive thing you get out of the movie if they do impact your life in a positive way!!

I happened to catch this movie on the Cartoon Channel - a first for me -when it first came out. I remember buying the R.L. Stine books for my daughter when she was a teenager, but had never read any myself. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Okay, I had never seen Emily Osment, either (although I knew she was Haley Joel's sister, for which I should be awarded some points, I think), but I thought she was excellent, as was all the cast.Guess what: when Halloween came around this year, I found myself looking for this movie again! It is silly, fun, and definitely has its scary moments. It is entertaining for kids, older kids and adults, and I recommend it highly for just about any age group (the icky monster stuff may be too much for really small kids), and as a family watch-it-together movie. I rate it 8/10 and have just bought a copy on Amazon just in case the Cartoon Network has moved on to other things in October 2009.

I thought this movie looked good in commericals and when I saw it a knew it was no box office it, but it was good. Emily Osment did an amazing job playing Cassie. It was really great seeing her play a total different role from Hannah Montana. Cody Linley, who played Sean also did a really nice job. I've always been a fan of his, so I was coming into this liking him already. I loved watching him play with the shock pen. That got a laugh out of me. I will agree that some of the jokes were cheesy, but some were kinda funny. Now, onto "The Evil Thing". I thought that they could've come with a better name, but that was in the book(?) so, that's fine. Also, it was really really fake looking. And I think the ending could've been a little better, but I saw that the title said "Vol. I" or something..so maybe a sequel? Even though it was really fake looking, I have to say parts of the movie I did get creeped out. All in all, it was a great Halloween movie. A fun thing to watch with your family or something.

had it not been for the commentary! If Emily wasn't giving away upcoming events in the film, she was talking over dialog and killing the mood of the scene. My son and I found it very annoying. I checked Tivo to see if there were any other showings of this movie, in case they showed it without the commentary. Hopefully the DVD will give viewers a choice between watching with commentary and without. The plot was interesting. The parts were played well and the kids did a good job bringing the characters to life. Good balance of drama and edge-of-your-seat suspense. All in all, remove the commentary, and this is a very good Halloween movie!