Mark Reviews Movies: THE CURSE OF BRIDGE HOLLOW

The Curse of Bridge Hollow, Netflix

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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 14, 2022

The Curse of Bridge Hollow is only trying to have some harmless, innocent fun. It's just not trying hard enough.

The central idea of this pre-teen-friendly horror-comedy is fine, even if it does feel as familiar as the results are routine. A small town that's obsessed with Halloween—and other holidays, apparently, as one character quickly notes to establish the possibility of a sequel or two—finds its many, many decorations coming to life, thanks to an evil spirit that once haunted the place and has been accidentally released from its otherworldly prison.

One probably could list a bunch of movies that use a similar premise and approach it with a similarly jokey tone (Indeed, at least two were released within a month of this one). What would be the point, though, beyond pointing out that one has watched or has awareness of a good number of movies? As always, a movie must be given the benefit of standing on its own, with its own virtues and faults, although there's always the conundrum when something as formulaic and predictable as this comes along. That formula and predictability don't exist in a vacuum.

To give director Jeff Wadlow's movie as much of that benefit as possible, though, the setup is somewhat clever, gets right to the point, and is supported by a cast that knows this is meant to be a comedy first and a horror tale by default. The story revolves around the Gordon family, husband Howard (Marlon Wayans), wife Emily (Kelly Rowland, who's sadly underutilized even though she clearly gets the joke as well as the rest of the cast of comedic actors), and their teenage daughter Sydney (Priah Ferguson). This family has just moved from Brooklyn to the small, fictional hamlet of Bridge Hollow somewhere in New England.

Sydney isn't happy about it, but Howard got a job offer to teach science at the local school. It's also supposedly the safest town in the entire country.

That title doesn't last, of course. While exploring the old house she now reluctantly calls home, Sydney discovers a chest hidden behind a wall in the attic. Inside it is a rather unappealing jack-o'-lantern made out of some aged, discolored gourd. Some local kids who formed a paranormal club at school already have told Sydney that her new house is supposedly haunted by the spirit of a witch (played by Nia Vardalos), who once summoned and then banished the demonic force known as Stingy Jack.

When the girl lights the candle inside the lantern, something from beyond is unleashed into the mortal realm. She wants to hunt it and stop it, but Howard, a man who doesn't believe in Halloween or anything supernatural, thinks there's a logical explanation for it all. The two go looking for the spirit or some rational explanation for why the town's Halloween decorations are coming to life.

The plot, obviously, has the two running around town, following clues and leads, and ending up at various places with different decorations to evade or fight. The effects here are competent, although the digital creations—such as tiny spiders or a giant one and some football gear-wearing skeletons—aren't nearly as convincing or effective as the practical ones—such as actors in zombie makeup or wearing killer-clown costumes. The screenplay, written by Todd Berger and Robert Rugan, does show a bit of imagination in coming up with a diverse collection of monsters, although every scene of them results in some kind of chase or brawl with whatever makeshift weapons might be lying around.

That feeling of a constant pattern hinders the action, the mildly scary bits (aimed at the movie's younger target audience, of course), and, unfortunately, the comedy. Wayans is much funnier in the skeptical mode of his character, desperately trying to figure out some scientific explanation for the supernatural occurrences happening right in front of him, but mostly, he's resigned here to running around and screaming a lot. Ferguson is an energetic presence, although Wadlow seems to have directed the young actor to take things a bit too seriously.

The supporting cast is made up of some funny people, although they're clearly limited by the characters they're playing and the jokes they're making. Rob Riggle plays the Gordons' Halloween-obsessed neighbor, who ends up in a brawl with the living models of the undead on his lawn. Lauren Lapkus plays the town's mayor, although the New England dialect seems to be main gag with her character. John Michael Higgins appears as the school principal who dabbles in the occult, and Nia Vardalos plays Madam Hawthorne, the spiritual medium who first released Stingy Jack a century ago, although her performance mainly amounts as a vocal cameo when the character's ghost possesses Howard.

In general, the tone of The Curse of Bridge Hollow is consistent and admirably light-hearted, and the cast, as restricted as the actors might be by the material, are clearly game for some fun. It's clear everyone's making an effort here, but the payoff is unfortunately underwhelming.

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