This review contains spoilers.
Casper is an iconic Halloween movie, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the movie. To celebrate the anniversary, the movie has been re-released in theaters. I watched the movie for the first time, and for the movie being made in 1995, it was well worth my time.
The movie follows Dr. James Harvey and his daughter, Kat, who travel the world looking for ghosts. As they move into the Whipstaff Manor, they discover it’s haunted by a friendly ghost named Casper and his three troublesome uncles: Stretch, Stinkie, and Fatso.
Harvey is hired by a character named Carrigan Crittenden, who owns the house, to get rid of the ghosts to obtain a hidden treasure. While this happens, Casper and Kat attempt to bring Casper back to life using a resurrection machine his Dad created, which Crittenden is also after.
The main story between Casper and Kat was interesting, but I didn’t really like the love dynamic between the two because, at the end of the day, he is a ghost and dead, while she is a human and very much alive.
The connection between Harvey and the three ghosts is my favorite part of the movie. The ghosts are hilarious and mess with Harvey. For example, they say they know who his wife is (who is dead), and when he went to meet her, it was just fatso dressed as a woman; that part was hilarious.
I didn’t really care for the villains of the movie, Crittenden and her lawyer, Dibs. They were funny, especially Dibs, but I just couldn’t take them seriously. They weren’t really villains until the final act. Dibs turned on Crittenden and killed her, but the turn didn’t really make sense. To be honest, it felt rushed and unnecessary
The third act culminated in Crittenden as a ghost stealing the potion for the resurrection machine to resurrect her instead of Casper, but she died because she had unfinished business and couldn’t be turned into a human. I didn’t like this part at all because it felt like a cheap way to defeat the villain. Unfinished business is unresolved issues that prevent spirits from moving on to the afterlife or turning into a human.
I also wasn’t a fan of how Harvey died and was easily resurrected. He died because he was drunk when hanging out with the ghosts, then fell into a construction hole, but was easily resurrected. Did he not have unfinished business just like Crittenden? The writers chose who had unfinished business and who didn’t just so they could resurrect a main character and defeat the villain. I did enjoy the emotional moment between Kat and ghost Harvey, which led him to go into the machine and become human.
The little side plot with Kat’s class entering the house for a Halloween party was amusing because some of the kids were being pranked by the ghosts, but it didn’t really add anything to the story. The movie finally ended with Harvey’s wife being an angel and turning Casper into a human for a limited time so he could dance with and eventually kiss Kat. Again, I didn’t like the love angle between the two, and he became a ghost as soon as they kissed, so it was weird seeing a human kiss a ghost.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and I would definitely watch it again and possibly every Halloween. It definitely has its ups and downs, but it is amusing and enjoyable for all ages. I would definitely recommend it, and I can’t believe that this was my first time seeing it. My final rating for Casper is 7/10.
