Oscar®-winner Ben Kingsley plays the Great Zamboni, a magician with a mysterious secret. He lives alone with his jaguar, Shadow, in the Spooky House, an old mansion rigged with magic tricks and hidden chambers. In spite of all the urban legends about the reclusive Zamboni, young orphan Max (Matt Weinberg) believes he can befriend him. His attempts to charm the magician, however, are met with stubborn resistance. As Max and his friends try to uncover the secret of Zambonis past, they are harassed by a trio of teenage bullies who work for the towns eccentric crime queen (Oscar®-winner Mercedes Ruehl). When the bullies chase the kids into the Spooky House on Halloween, a night of hilarious magic and spectacular illusions ensues. In this funny, heartwarming story, Zamboni and Max ultimately discover the power of real magic.
****
Low Budget Film
The Haunted Mansion, an old house with hidden passageways and magic tricks, is home to the mysterious reclusive magician the Great Zamboni and his pet jaguar. Max, an orphan, wish to be friends with the magician. On Halloween, Max and his friends are pursued inside the Scary Mansion by three teenage bullies who work for the town's criminal boss. This sets off a night of hilarious magic and incredible illusions.Kids will love seeing this interesting and entertaining film. For adults, it's a little bit too idealistic. It features a passable plot and an eclectic cast of people.On the plus side, the film depicts adoption, finding a loving family, and the conversion of resentment into love and acceptance. This film had the potential to be much better.
A**E
Nearly 100% cringe, plot easily falls down like a deck of cards
I like kind of cutesy but cheesy horror movies but this one takes it way past believable. Even if I was a kid this movie would be bad. **Spoilers**As an adult I can see the plot flaws in this movie and, in the first 5 min, knew that the entire storyline would not happen in real life. The main premise is the kid is going away to an orphanage.. CPS would already have the kid in protective services and so none of this would have happened. The acting is so cringe especially from the kids. I've seen great children actors which none of these are. Most of the drama in the storyline besides the 'spooky dude' was due to bullies... who were actually being groomed to be thieves by an elderly lady (which is super concerning). Those kids could have been easily addressed with one call to the police in the first altercation since the kids knew what the bully stole. And WTF was with all the cigarettes and smoking in this movie?! The bullies even stole thousands of dollars of cigarette boxes which would be a felony!The whole Ben Kingsley creepy spooky dude storyline was interesting. He was the most amusing as it was so hilarious to see him in all black and look like a knock-off Severus Snape with long black hair. However his whole story line is nonsensical as well. One the fact that they even allowed him at the end to adopt a kid would be not possible in modern times. One that he was an adult male adopting a boy most likely would not happen, but also for the fact that he had been on trial for the potential murder of his wife (which the kids confront him about) would make him not able to adopt a kid.Then the entire story just dealt with normal magic tricks and him being a magician and yet nowhere in there was discussion of "real magic" or curses or the occult of any kind.. yet at the end when he was finally happy to have children was suddenly when his wife magically was able to reappear ("cursed" to be a jaguar). Why were they cursed? He didn't do anything evil. He just didn't want kids.. his reason for not wanting kids was perhaps overkill, but valid, as he fact that he grew up in an orphanage and was abused and bullied. So he didn't want to "deal" with kids which is an understandable trait for abuse victims. But somehow he was cursed, his wife disappear on him for years (and being accused of her murder) because he didn't want children is utterly insane and stupid. (Inane point but: his wife was native American and they turned her into a Jaguar which is not a matching animal within the realm of spirituality/ actual North American animal. This annoyed me).So the only real amusement I found in this movie was some of the kind of spooky house stuff (but it was all poorly shot so they definitely need to fire whoever that is cinematographer is) and Ben Kingsley being a goth magician.Don't watch this. Watch some goosebumps episodes instead.
D**E
Enjoyable but cheezy. Overall a good family movie. Overly eccentric characters.
Overall this is a decent and clean family movie. The overly eccentric characters are a bit much. It has a decent plot though. You have the oddballs, the criminals, the grumpy old man, a boy longing for a family but knows he's being sent away to an orphanage and of course the overly stupid bully misfits. The dialog is a bit much at times. They went to the extreme of all the characters. Does have criminal activity, destruction of property/arson and the like but we didn't notice anything that you really wouldn't want your kids to see. Most, most being the key word, of the characters are relatable. This movie does support adoption and finding kids a good home. It shows the transformation of bitterness to love and acceptance. There were times it was so stupid that we almost stopped watching it because of losing interest but it picks up. This is definitely a low budget movie. Not bad but could of been better.
B**B
Great for kids
Engaging and fun. Enjoyable for kids and adults. Not so cheesy.... kids liked it and that's who it is for. This is worth watching again and again.
J**E
Great quality
I remember watching this movie as a kid. It's ridiculously cheesey, and the plot is a little silly, but I love this movie. I made my roommates watch it and now it's on the list of Halloween movies we watch every year.
G**C
Exactly what it should be
This was cute, sweet, and a little predictable. Perfect for a family Halloween treat :)
E**S
Great Moral for Kiddies, also Great for Adults!!
Bro, I loved this movie. If you love animals, magic, and heartwarming stories (as well as humor), then this film is probably for you. There are also a surprising amount of non-American/Caucasian actors in this film, which is a welcome surprise. Have a treat this Halloween. ;) !
K**.
Really liked it -- recommend it
This is a very fun movie for kids (or the young at heart, like me). Ben Kingsley is a fine actor and he has fun with this role. It's not scary, really. All the scary stuff is done in a non-dramatic way. So little ones can still enjoy. I usually don't like movies with mean kids in the story, but, again, it's done in fun and the mean kids really get their comeuppance in the end. Wholeheartedly recommend this film.
S**D
Excellent film for the family!
I'd never heard of Spooky House and was delighted to discover this wonderful film available on DVD. Yes, Ben Kingsley is wonderful as the main character but I was equally as impressed with the talented child actors. The fact that the kids come from different ethnic groups is not only admirable, it worked very well in this film. It's not always easy to find the right balance of "spooky" with "fun" in a family film but this one nailed it. A wonderful gem of a film!
D**N
An Amazing well written Magical movie
A really nice movie with a great cast and story. It is a magical movie and Ben Kingsley plays the part of a great magician. The ending was beautiful.
R**A
Five Stars
Great blast from the past!
R**E
Poor
Cheap and it shows. The acting is just bearable, even from Sir Ben himself. The film sets are naff.Young children will probably enjoy it.The young boy who plays the lead is the only saving grace - he is actually good.Unless you have small children to entertain on a rainy afternoon - do not bother. RJC.
M**K
A fantastic kids film
I saw this film some years ago on sky and when I noticed that it was available to buy, I jumped at it. The full family sat down to watch it and we all thoroughly enjoyed it....especially my 7yr old daughter. Great film that can be watched over and over again.
