RL Stine is an extremely popular author for kids and tweens, having written countless best-sellers. Stine’s “Goosebumps” series of books was turned into a successful television series; there are also a few direct to DVD films based on his books. The first came out last year and starred Emily Osment (from “Hannah Montana”) and Tobin Bell (from the “Saw” films, of all places) and it was actually quite entertaining. It was called “The Haunting Hour” and for what it was, it was well-made and entertaining.
Alas, Stine’s new feature called Mostly Ghostly is slow-paced and devoid of an interesting storyline. It will bore almost all teens and adults and is recommended only to older children. It’s very low budget and the acting is pretty bad, it mostly resembles the recent supernatural film “Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour,” and that is not a compliment.
“Mostly Ghostly” is about an 11 year-old boy named Max (Sterling Beaumon) who loves magic and has a crush on Traci, the most popular girl in school. Max is the only person who can see the ghosts haunting his house and he makes a deal with them: he’ll help them find their missing parents and fight a nasty ghoul if they help him become more popular. The kids are generally bad and devoid of charm. The film tries to be witty but would barely pass the muster on cruddy Disney Channel series like “The Wizards of Waverly Place,” and the film looks and feels very cheap. Fans of RL Stine are better off checking out “The Haunting Hour” or rewatching his old “Goosebumps” television series. Though it hasn’t aged well, “Goosebumps” is still better than this tripe. The bad ghoul’s makeup isn’t bad and there’s a few laughs, but little else to recommend this dud. The film has no special features at all and includes both full screen and widescreen versions of the film.
RL Stine’s “Mostly Ghostly” is a real disappointment considering the source material and the fact that the previous Stine feature was far better. The acting is over the top and inept, the story is plodding, and the effects are average at best. Kids (and especially ones who love RL Stine’s books) deserve better than this latest half-hearted effort from the RL Stine money machine.
DVD Grade: C-
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