Monsters and humans learn about teamwork in cute animation.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Spookiz: The Movie is a South Korean animated movie based on a TV show in which young monsters who hide out at a school after hours cross paths with humans. Both sides have preconceptions about the others challenged and a young girl, Hana (voiced by Bommie Catherine Han) and a vampire (Mike Yantzi) join forces to help each other, all while being chased by the sinister adult monster hunter—the movie's villain. The monsters are varied but cute. Some parts might be spooky for younger kids but these are always funny misdirects with the monsters. Violence and jump scares comes from the human monster hunter, who chases down the monsters, physically tackles them and shoots at them with his monster hunting gun. Brief potty humor when a vampire tries to transform into a bat and says the straining makes them "want to go number two." A character, shown from behind, makes vomiting sounds after spinning on their head while breakdancing. Characters show teamwork, perseverance, courage, and gratitude.
To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails
.
Violence & Scariness
some
Some slightly spooky scenes are softened by becoming visual gags. Mild slapstick violence between the monsters but more sinister scenes with the human monster hunter, who chases and attacks the monster kids. He shoots at them with a gun and attempts to hit a human child. The hunter holds a vampire up by his neck and holds him in sunshine. A vampire character burns in sunlight and he has a nightmare in which he's tied to a stake and surrounded by flames. A bat learns to fly by being pushed off a building. A child bangs into a pylon and temporarily loses a tooth. A character makes vomiting noises after becoming dizzy after breakdancing.
Did you know you can flag iffy content?
Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Learn to overlook and expose assumptions and misinformation. Friendship can be achieved through teamwork and encouraging each other to succeed. Characters use perseverance to achieve their goals. Learning and listening to other people's experiences leads to better understanding. Characters show gratitude for what they have. Characters show courage to put themselves in danger to help their friends. Being good at school is not the be-all and end-all.
Positive Role Models
some
Cula is a vampire who hides out at a school with his monster pals after being banished by humans. When he finds human girl Hana's phone, he and the monsters again cross paths with people. Despite some rivalry with young monster Kebi and a desire to be alone, Cula and his cute monster friends get on well together. Kebi learns to value his friends. KongKong is an upbeat and cheerful hopping zombie, Frankie is a childlike Frankenstein's monster. Mr. Reaper is the monsters' guardian and teacher who makes them practice hiding and innocently teaches inaccurate assumptions about humans. Human third-grader Hana gets cross when her father won't immediately replace her broken phone. She is intrigued by the mysterious person who had her phone and stays at school to find him. She finds it hard to focus and is thankful for the help Cula gives her. Her dad says she needs to get all As at school to have it replaced. When she's saved he changes his mind saying she's perfect just the way she is. Hunter is a sinister human who hunts monsters and calls them savages. The school principal stands up to the hunter when he tries to hit a pupil.
Diverse Representations
a little
Monsters and humans live separately after humans banished monsters from society but some learn to understand each other and gain trust and friendship. Male and female characters are given equal importance in the story. Human characters show prejudice and hatred toward monsters. The movie is South Korean, with all the human characters seemingly being from that region. The English dubbed version is voiced by White actors and actors of East Asian nationality or heritage.
Did we miss something on diversity?
.
Educational Value
none
Although there are plenty of positive messages to be learned, the movie is intended to entertain rather than educate.
In SPOOKIZ: THE MOVIE, a group of monsters who hide out in a school after hours have their cover blown when vampire Cula (voiced by Mike Yantzi) finds a daytime pupil's cellphone. When they meet, both sides learn more about the other but face the threat of the sinister monster hunter called in to exorcize the school.
Man being the real monster is a tried and tested way of showing the important of kindness and understanding in horror movies. Spookiz: The Movie successfully continues this idea. The monsters are cute and compelling and the kind kid who stumbles into their world, Hana (voiced by Bommie Catherine Han), is enthusiastic and inquisitive. While the actions of the sinister exorcist might be intense for some younger kids, the message of acceptance and being open minded outshines the scares. A lost cellphone bridging the two worlds is a good way to open the conversation out to cellphone use while the movie keeps its focus on fiendish fun.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether Spookiz: The Movie was scary or not. Did you find any of the characters scary? Why are monster movies popular? Why is it sometimes fun to be scared?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Tom Cassidy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
