I should probably admit up front that I'm not a big fan of Halloween and all the "spooky" mumbo-jumbo that we are bombarded with every October. Needless to say, that means I have extremely low expectations when sitting through Halloween films for kids. When my wife convinced me to watch The Curse of Bridge Hollow, I'm sad to say it lived down to those expectations. The story here is extremely straightforward and feels familiar, like one you've seen in a hundred other movies like this one. It's the familiar trope of an evil spirit brought to town by an ancient curse, and a magical spell that must be cast to stop the attack. In fact, it has a lot in common with Hocus Pocus, so fans of that movie might have a good time with this one as well. I'm not one of those people, but I'm married to one.
My biggest struggle with this movie is that it lacks humor. It is fighting for some laughs, and only got me chuckling a few times. Most of the humor that worked for me was exclusively because I like Rob Riggle's goofy personality, and some of John Michael Higgins' schtick. Nothing Marlon Wayans did was even slightly humorous to me. Priah Ferguson plays his daughter and she ends up being more of an annoying nag than anything else. I don't really understand why we're expected to laugh at Kelly Rowland making vegan treats that everyone finds disgusting, or at the paranormal kids club, or even at Lauren Lapkus and her exaggerated accent. The film has some slightly scary images (in particular some homicidal clowns) but it's not enough to satisfy real horror fans, just enough to make it a tough sell for young kids. I can't really recommend The Curse of Bridge Hollow, but I will say if it looks like something you'll like then you're probably right, and if it looks bad to you then just skip it.
