What Is the Story About?
The Curse of Bridge Hollow is a Halloween-themed comedy about a father-daughter duo who team up to defeat a spooky threat in their new town. Teenager Sydney who is particularly not appreciative of her parents decision to move from Brooklyn to the small town of Bridge Hollow, finds herself caught in a labyrinth of monster horror and an old spirit during Halloween.
Performances?
Stranger Things fame Priah Ferguson stars as Sydney. Her chemistry with Marlon Wayans who plays her dad is the best part of the film. They’re fun and lively together and probably the only reason one would finish the film. Their characters however are very uni-dimensional.
Analysis
The Curse of Bridge Hollow reminds you of many monster comedies you’ve seen. Albeit not the good ones. Well, it starts off as a routine abandoned house-haunted house template film with an obvious family moving in. At one point one would wonder if the pun is quite on the face. But credits where due, the entire production design and Halloween set-up that comes alive by the climax is a thing of spooky.
The story and the proceedings get funny at some point but then drags it out unreasonably leaving you scratching your head. The makers are well aware of the wafer thin plot they have at hand, but are still hell-bent on stretching a 60 minute story to around 90 minutes by adding flat jokes and bland ha-ha attempts at comedy that takes forever to land.
Since the reveal of the spirit, everything else that happens in the film is very predictable and devoid of any fun. There’s a small-town with a legend, a spirit that everyone talks about but knows nothing more about, a teenager and her set of paranormal activity-addict friends, her reasonable science teacher father who doesn’t believe in spirits but eventually helps in catching the *spirit* and then a happy ending!! The Curse of Bridge Hollow, follows the same path traversed by many Netflix horror comedies before, but with an extra weight of forgetfulness.
One good thing about the film is how effortlessly Priah and Marlon Wayans gel as a dad-daughter duo. But the two can heavy-lift the already dull looking film only enough. The rest of the characters exist just for the sake of existing. Not only is the rest of the film badly written, but so are the numbered characters.
In short, From director Jeff Wadlow (Truth or Dare) comes The Curse of Bridge Hollow, a run of the mill horror comedy that quite tries to be an on-the-face rib-chuckling Halloween comedy, but fails to make a mark let alone leave a mark. It has quite a few interesting stretches for the kids, but they run out of steam quickly and all that’s left is a bland, un-scary, un-funny halloween offering. And also… It tests your patience.
Other Artists?
None of the characters besides the father-mother-daughter trio work as such. Every character is thin as paper and their scenes very superficial, vague and just for some silly laughs.
Music and Other Departments?
The music and background score of The Curse of Bridge Hollow is just adequate. Its neither great, nor bad. Very much a run of the mill stuff akin to its writing. The production design on the other hand is quite something. The spooky set-pieces might also interest kids.
Highlights?
• Priah Ferguson and Marlon Wayans chemistry
• Intriguing Stretch towards climax
• Core Story
Drawbacks?
• Terrible Writing
• One dimensional characters
• Jokes that don’t land
• Not Scary
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, Very Very Few Parts
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, but With Huge Reservations
The Curse of Bridge Hollow Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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