 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Dog Who Saved Halloween
- Review Date: September 14, 2011
- PG
- Genre: Comedy
- 2011
Common Sense Media says
Slapstick Halloween comedy with lots of potty humor.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this slapstick Halloween comedy has lots of potty humor. The bumbling crooks find work picking up dog excrement in the park, and the larger of the two crooks (who's also prone to flatulence throughout the film), at one point smears what could be either mud or dog poop on his face. There's mild farcical violence throughout, a brief scene with sexual undertones, and typical Halloween scary fare like lightning, bats, cobwebs, tarantulas, etc.
What's the story?
In this sequel to The Dog Who Saved Christmas and The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation, the Bannister family moves to a new street, where George Bannister (Gary Valentine) starts to suspect that their neighbor, Professor Cole (Lance Henriksen), is a mad scientist. Meanwhile, bumbling crooks Ted and Stewey (Dean Cain and Joey Diaz) have been released from jail, only to be given work by their parole officer picking up after dogs in the park. The Bannisters' dog, Zeus (voiced by Joey Lawrence), tries to help George find the truth behind the "Countdown to Zero Hour" timer that they spy in the window of Professor Cole's mysterious attic.
Is it any good?
For pure mindless entertainment, THE DOG WHO SAVED HALLOWEEN is as farcical, slapstick, and silly as it gets. The adults who appear the most in the film are doltish and clumsy, the kids don't bring much to the overall story, and the pets are there to say cutesy things and cover their eyes when the oafish adults get into jams. The haunted house is filled with all of the typical "scary" accouterments -- lightning, bats, eyes moving in framed portraits on the walls, and so on.
The characters are one-dimensional, and while an argument could be made that the twist to the ending promotes a positive message about what Halloween means for adults and kids, by the time that ending happens, the audience is so overwhelmed by slapstick, flatulence, and pets spouting precocious one-liners that it's almost impossible to imagine that message resonating.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about reality versus imagination. What was the difference between what Mr. Bannister thought Professor Cole was doing and what he was actually trying to do for Halloween? How can you test your assumptions before acting on them?
Was anything in this movie scary? What's the difference between things and people who might be actually scary and the monsters we see during Halloween?
What's so funny about potty humor?
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AGE
The Dog Who Killed Halloween
This movie is just plain horrible. The actors are bad, the story is sadistic, the plot is downright terrible, and above all, the voices, oh, the voices. The voices of the dog in this movie just made me want to shove a pipe-cleaner through my ear. The plot is basically like any other scary movie, just with annoying characters with little to no development. They stack up A BUNCH of cliches that you've seen a hundred times, sometimes not even in a horror movie, and this movie isn't even that. I think it was trying to be a mystery movie, but the main character (I can't even remember his name) is just so nosy, annoying, and stupid that you just want to see him done away with in the first 10 seconds you learn of his existence. The kids are annoying and unnecessary characters to begin with, both of them barely saying anything and just tagging along, snooping around this guy's house (Prof. Eli Cole, who is the only person I mildly admired throughout the whole movie, because at least he TRIED to commit to his role), and getting scared in the end and just chickening out. The main dog in this movie has the most annoying voice I've ever heard, and get this, he actually tries to be FUNNY. I guess he's supposed to be the character to deliver the comedic effect, but he even fails at that. The last 2 characters I recall besides the neighbors who are meaner than Mr. Burns are these 2 convicts on probation for a couple of attempts at theft (attempts, surprised?). These guys are just like the children, they are stale, annoying, and unnecessary characters that cut into this film's 2-dollar budget. These 2 are for comedic effect as well, and boy, do they do their job horribly. You have one guy (I can't recall his name at the time) who is obviously supposed to be the "brains" of the outfit, if you call mistakening chocolate for gold coins intelligent. Then, obviously, and this is one of the biggest cliches in movies I've seen in a long time, there's this idiotic waste of space that tags along and is a bit defiant at times, but complies like a lemming, probably even if you asked him to commit suicide. Overall, this movie is horrible and I was a picometer from falling asleep on it. Whatever you do this Halloween, I hope you have fun. If you want to get scared, watch this movie, because I assure you, this movie will scare the crap out of you for how bad it is.
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Kid, 7 years old
September 22, 2011
AGE
its a very nice movie
its a great movie you should buy your kid one its very great for your child
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| Topics: | holidays |
| Studio: | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
| Director: | Peter Sullivan |
| Cast: | Dean Cain, Gary Valentine, Joey Lawrence |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 88 minutes |
| DVD release date: | September 13, 2011 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | mild rude humor |
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