R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Mild tween Halloween tale could use more thrills.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

Find out more

Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a movie about ghosts who come out of the basement wall. Young children or sensitive viewers might be afraid of the haunted-house feeling of this movie. The ghosts have scary faces and make spooky noises. Phears is a frightening character, even if he tries to be funny.

  • Max is bullied and treated badly. His ghost friends help him repel the bully.
  • Ghosts make threatening gestures, but these turn into jokes.
  • Ali Lohan's character Traci is chosen as Max's assistant because he has a crush on her.

What's the story?

Even though his tricks are corny and he trips over his cape, Max Doyle (Sterling Beaumon) wants to be a magician more than anything. And suddenly he happens upon some creepy special effects he never bargained for when a frightening demon named Phears (Brian Stepanek) plans to unlock the tunnel of ghosts on Halloween -- a tunnel which opens in Max's basement. Lucky for Max, two nice ghosts, Tara (Madison Pettis, Cory in the House) and Nicky (Luke Benward), arrive to help foil Phears' plan. An appearance by Ali Lohan as Traci, an attractive upper schooler, motivates Max to make his magic show even cooler -- albeit paranormal. When Halloween rolls around, the tricks and the treats are rolled up into a grand finale.


Is it any good?

 

R.L. STINE'S MOSTLY GHOSTLY does improve as it progresses, but the first 20 minutes are a disaster. The acting is stagey and the plot is pasted together. As soon as Tara and Nicky show up, things begin to rev up. And the scenes of Max being nerdy at school work better than the scenes at home. Ali Lohan's cameo as Traci feels contrived, but kids are going to enjoy the energy that she brings to the production. It's not great Halloween viewing, but it's not as frightening as other choices out there.


Sign Up Message
Sign up for our weekly newsletter
Each week we send a customized newsletter to our parent and teen subscribers. Parents can customize their settings to receive recommendations and parent tips based on their kids’ ages. Teens receive a version just for them with the latest reviews and top picks for movies, video games, apps, music, books, and more.
Please enter an email address.
Please check your email address for possible typos.
Sorry, you must be 13 or older to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Sign me up!

What families can talk about

Families can talk about whether they believe in paranormal events. Should we really be afraid of the dark? How can scary images get into our minds? What's more scary -- a ghost or a bully? Should Max have asked his mom to help him?


This review was written by Joly Herman
Teen, 14 years old
October 8, 2009
 
boring disney movie
another boring disney movie

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent of 16 year old
August 10, 2009
 
not scary
ages 8+

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 14 years old
August 25, 2011
 
Creepy-Looking Thingys
The violence wasn't really much violence, but creepy-looking things/people/elements. Other than that, there's nothing bad you should worry about.

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 10 years old
August 21, 2010
 

Flag as inappropriate 

This review was written by Joly Herman
Topics:magic and fantasy, adventures, holidays, monsters, ghosts, and vampires
Studio:Universal Pictures
Director:Rich Correll
Cast:Ali Lohan, Luke Benward, Sterling Beaumon
Genre:Family and Kids
Run time:87 minutes
Theatrical release date:October 3, 2008
DVD release date:September 30, 2008
MPAA rating:PG
MPAA explanation:scary images, brief mild bullying, language

This review was written by Joly Herman
 

Review It

Share your review with others

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
About our rating system
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.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

 

vote now

Will you see R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly?


Already seen it? What do you think?

 

Been There? Tell us about it