Casper Collection

Fantasy

Comedy

Family

Casper

The Harvey Entertainment Company

Universal Pictures

Amblin Entertainment

United States of America

English

Christina Ricci

Bill Pullman

Cathy Moriarty

Eric Idle

Malachi Pearson

Joe Alaskey

Joe Nipote

Brad Garrett

Devon Sawa

Chauncey Leopardi

Spencer Vrooman

Garette Ratliff Henson

Jessica Wesson

Amy Brenneman

Ben Stein

Don Novello

Terry Murphy

Ernestine Mercer

Doug Bruckner

John Kassir

Wesley Thompson

Michael Dubrow

J.J. Anderson

Jess Harnell

Michael McCarty

Micah Winkelspecht

Mike Simmrin

Dan Aykroyd

Rodney Dangerfield

Clint Eastwood

Mel Gibson

Elise Main

Bill Farmer

Harry Shearer

Brad Silberling

Colin Wilson

Gerald R. Molen

Jeffrey A. Montgomery

Steven Spielberg

James Horner

Dean Cundey

Michael Kahn

Paul Deason

Steve Waterman

Steve E. Andrews

Michele Panelli-Venetis

Janet Healy

Michael Lantieri

Steven R. Molen

Gary Rydstrom

Richard Hymns

Gary Hymes

Adam Shankman

Clyde E. Bryan

Jolanda Wipfli

Raymond Stella

Charles M. Wilborn

Stephen Sfetku

Casey Hotchkiss

David James

Ronald Batzdorff

Kenneth Schwarz

Alan Cody

Patrick Crane

Peter Fandetti

Michael Fallavollita

Eric H. Sandberg

Cheryl Beasley Blackwell

Sharon Iris Crall

Anne Marie Stein

Christina Smith

Matthew W. Mungle

Monty Westmore

Michael Orefice

Steve Chandler

Vincent Contarino

Ben O. Graham

Joseph J. Orefice

Mark Soucie

Anthony Wong

Ron Cardarelli

Sid Lucero

Dave Wachtman

Steven Cardarelli

Marty Dobkousky

Craig 'Tex' Barnett

Louie Lantieri

Tim Moran

Daniel B. Ossello

Greg Papalia

Brad Ricker

Antoinette J. Gordon

Gary A. Lee

Josh Lusby

Gene Nollman

James P. Meehan

Jonathan Bobbitt

Eric Ramirez

Allen Tinkley

Debbie DeRango

Marvin Salsberg

Thomas Meikle

Anthony 'AJ' Leonardi Jr.

Jeff Brown

Tim Gonzales

Jane Goe

Denny Caira

Michael Antunez

Steve Luce

Wallace Frick

William Ballard

Richard Padgett

Gary Kincaid

Steve Sorkin

Ronald Stinton

Daniel B. Briggs

Rhona Gordon

Adria Later

Kenneth Zunder

Doug Jones

Pam Kaye

Gary Summers

Shawn Murphy

Teresa Eckton

Frank E. Eulner

Hugh Waddell

Michael Silvers

Sara Bolder

Sandina Bailo-Lape

Dennie Thorpe

Tom Barwick

***Fun, silly ghost flick with Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci and Cathy Moriarty***

A ghost-whispering paranormal expert and his daughter (Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci) move into a dilapidated mansion on the coast of Maine that’s haunted by a friendly ghost and three mischievous ones. Cathy Moriarty plays the venal heir of the mansion and Eric Idle her assistant.

“Casper” (1995) delivers the goods if you're in the mood for a "spooktacular" Goosebumps-like horror film that's fun & silly and not scary at all. It's like Scooby-Doo but without the dog and the teens are tweens. “Monster Night” (2006) and “Ghostbusters” (1984) are other reference points, but I prefer “Monster Night,” which has a similar plot, but is all-around more entertaining (even though it cost significantly less) and has a superior assortment of good-lookin' women, young and older. With “Caspar” there’s Moriarty, but she plays the biyatch antagonist. There’s also ricci, but she was only 14 during shooting, although she’s effective in the role.

The movie runs 1 hour, 40 minutes and was shot at Universals City, California, with establishing shots of Rockport, Maine.

GRADE: B-/C+

I remembered so much of this, and yet absolutely nothing of the plot.

<em>’Casper’</em> is a film I must’ve watched so much as a young kid on video, the opening few scenes are very nostalgic. As noted though, I didn’t recall anything serious from this 1995 flick though. It’s a little deeper than I remember, with some adult themes touched on - the concluding scenes stand out in that regard.

I did remember the cast, however. Malachi Pearson is perfect as the voice of the titular character, while Christina Ricci is good in the lead live-action role. Bill Pullman spearheads the rest of the onscreen talent well. One casting note: A young Devon Sawa has a part, I recently watched him in television’s <em>’<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chucky_(TV_series)" rel="nofollow">Chucky</a>’</em> - which I’d recommend, fwiw. Another: Clint Eastwood makes a small cameo, as does a certain ghost hunter.

Just the *checks notes* four follow-ups have spawned from this release. Off we go...

CinemaSerf

Kids in Scotland of a certain age might just remember Glen Michael’s “Cavalcade”. This was a television programme on a Sunday afternoon that featured cartoons and one of the most popular of those was “Casper”, the friendly ghost. It was probably more popular because there were hardly ever any available and so when they were announced, it was always exciting. It’s against that sentimental backdrop that I really quite enjoyed this Spielberg action adventure film. It all starts when “Carrigan” (Cathy Moriarty) inherits a decrepit manor house in which she believes there to be a secret fortune. When she arrives she discovers it already has an occupant, and she has to get rid of him first. How, though? Well she even tries the “Ghostbusters”, but to no avail. Eventually, she and her hapless aide “Dibs” (Eric Idle) alight on the widowed spectral scientist “Dr. Harvey” (Bill Pullman), who arrives at the house with his daughter “Kat” (Christina Ricci). Quickly getting used to their house-sharers, what now ensues sees a series of mischievous adventures with our apparition and the young “Kat” as they try to thwart the treasure seeking owner and maybe even settle some old scores, too. If I do have a complaint, well it’s probably that there just isn’t enough “Casper” in his own movie. His three tormenting sidekicks take up a bit too much of the screen time, and at times it does veer a little close to becoming “Carry on Casper”. That said, though, Ricci delivers quite engagingly and Pullman provides a steady, if unremarkable, effort as the resident and bereft adult. The visual effects are quite good fun and the denouement (before it goes altogether too cheesy) has shades of “Frankenstein” to it. It’s more in the vein of “Scooby Do” than “The Conjuring”, but there’s some comedy from the script and I found it flew by.

Casper's Breakfast Gets Derailed! - Extended Preview

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"Can I Keep You?"

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Casper

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Cast

Christina Ricci

Bill Pullman

Cathy Moriarty

Eric Idle

Malachi Pearson

Joe Alaskey

Joe Nipote

Brad Garrett

Devon Sawa

Chauncey Leopardi

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