‘Nightbooks’
This 2021 Netflix original is based on a story by the horror author J.A. White and has the “Evil Dead” director Sam Raimi as one of its producers, so it is best for children and teenagers who fall asleep just fine after experiencing jump scares, ghouls and evil witches.
It starts on a dark and stormy night with a bespectacled kid named Alex (Winslow Fegley) running away after angrily tearing his movie posters off the wall; he had overheard his parents saying that his obsession with horror is a little odd. Alex is lured into a spooky apartment in his building, where he meets a witch, Natacha (a truly creepy yet still fun Krysten Ritter). Natacha will only let him live if he tells her a scary story each night. She’s also holding another child prisoner, an older girl named Yasmin (Lidya Jewett), and the pair endure all manner of cruelty from Natacha until Alex finds a way to free them.
“Nightbooks” does have a great message about embracing what makes you unique, even if the kids at school think it’s “weird.” The bond that develops between Alex and a world-weary Yasmin is sweet to watch, amid all the scares. The ending sets the stage for a possible sequel. David Yarovesky (“Brightburn”) directed, and Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, who co-wrote “The Curse of La Llorona,” wrote the script.
‘Monster Family 2: Nobody’s Perfect’
At the start of this 2021 sequel to the 2017 animated adventure “Monster Family,” the Wishbone family has reversed the curse that transformed them into monsters. They’re enjoying life as everyday humans until a mysterious crimson-haired adventurer named Mila Starr (voiced by Emily Carey) captures Count Dracula (the “White Lotus” Emmy nominee Jason Isaacs) and the witch Baba Yaga (Catherine Tate), along with her fiancé, Renfield (Ewan Bailey). Mila’s parents have convinced her that she is helping to save humanity by capturing monsters, but they’re secretly harboring more sinister plans.
Since they couldn’t stop Mila in their human form, Max Wishbone (Ethan Rouse), the family’s son, turns himself back into a werewolf; his mother, Emma (the Oscar nominee Emily Watson), is once again a vampire; his father, Frank (Nick Frost), is Frankenstein’s monster; and his sister, Fay (Jessica Brown Findlay), reluctantly resumes her mummy form.
The action takes the characters across the Earth as the Wishbones try to save Baba Yaga, who’s like family to them, and Renfield. Mila eventually realizes that hunting monsters isn’t cool, and the Wishbones are able to transform back into humans.
The “nobody’s perfect” theme is a good lesson for youngsters, and the movie is a good Halloween pick if your children have seen the “Hotel Transylvania” franchise too many times. The story is based on the book “Happy Family” by the German writer David Safier, who wrote the screenplay with Abraham Katz. Holger Tappe returns to direct the sequel.
‘Dog Man’
If your child, like mine, devoured the “Dog Man” graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey, they’ll probably love this big-hearted 2025 animated comedy from DreamWorks in which Dog Man — a half-dog, half-man “supa cop” voiced and woofed by the writer-director Peter Hastings — is told by the police chief (Lil Rel Howery) to arrest the villainous Petey the cat (Pete Davidson), who aims to “destroy all do-gooders.” Local TV anchor Sarah (Isla Fisher) reports on the shenanigans unfolding in their fair city.
When Petey decides to clone himself — resulting in a sweet and adorable kitten (Lucas Hopkins Calderon) — his evil plans are upended. As Petey softens up, an even worse villain appears in the form of a giant, demented fish voiced by Ricky Gervais. The “Saturday Night Live” alum Cheri Oteri voices the dog-hating mayor.
Like the graphic novels, there are bright pops of yellow and blue, and a deliriously fun mix of comedy and action.
‘Elio’
Recently orphaned and placed in the care of his often-exasperated Aunt Olga (the recent Oscar-winner Zoe Saldaña), young Elio (Yonas Kibreab from “Merry Little Batman”) feels totally alone in the universe. He’s having trouble bonding with Olga, an Air Force major who is newly balancing her job monitoring space with her role as a surrogate parent.
Elio longs to be abducted by aliens. Maybe out there in space he’ll find belonging, or his parents, or anything that will help him feel less lonely. When Elio is beamed up one night to the Communiverse, an alternate realm, he meets a gaggle of goofy, otherworldly space creatures who ask him to help defeat the warlord Grigon (Brad Garrett). Elio bonds with Grigon’s son, Glordon, a wormlike being (Remy Edgerly’s voice work makes the character cute rather than terrifying). The two intergalactic buddies face tunnels of lava and the wrath of Grigon (who ends up being a softy, like his son) before helping to bring peace to the Communiverse. Back home, Elio discovers that he’s not alone. He has a home, with Olga.
It’s not Pixar’s most original story, but there’s enough action and emotion to entertain and tug the heartstrings. Madeline Sharafian (who directed the Oscar-nominated short film “Burrow”) and Domee Shi (“Turning Red”) directed from a script by Julia Cho, Mark Hammer and Mike Jones.
‘The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie’
The Looney Tunes characters have been entertaining audiences since Warner Bros. introduced them in the 1930s. In this latest installment, Bugs Bunny is nowhere to be found. Instead, it centers on Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both voiced by the three-time Emmy-winner Eric Bauza). The pair grew up like siblings, raised by Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore), who left them his home when he died.
One night, a bright green U.F.O. crashes into the farmhouse. Aliens then covertly contaminate the nearby Goodie Gum factory with a radiation that turns earthlings into zombies. Since Daffy and Porky need money to fix the roof, they get a job at the factory via their friend Petunia Pig (Candi Milo) and soon find themselves trying to save the planet from a dastardly villain called the Invader (Peter MacNicol, an Emmy winner for “Ally McBeal”).
The bickering, slapstick energy that defines Looney Tunes is on full display in this hand-drawn adventure, and younger children should find the characters’ timeless high jinks entertaining. Peter Browngardt directed, and shared screenplay credit with nearly a dozen additional writers.
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