As Halloween themed films aimed at the adolescent audience go, this one is a bit quirky, but fairly good. It is told from the grandfather's point of view (who steels every scene), but of course the main character is his adolescent grandson. That one is of the opinion that "he who runs away, lives to fight another day," but eventually that "other" day comes, and he has to learn a lesson. In that regard, the most appealing character turns out to be the young girl that comes into his life. She has a heart, but is also puckish and feisty. Although introduced as a cheerleader, she has both a dark side and a sharpness of wit uncharacteristic of the stereotype, and is anything but an air-head. Otherwise, the story is forgivably absurd, mixing up "Beetlejuice" elements with "Night of the Living Dead" hokum, and sending up the football player mentality against the underdog world of arts and ideas. It also has a rather "remarkable" ending, involving ideas straight out of Zen Buddhism!!!
Review of When Good Ghouls Go Bad
