I, like many people, love the first two movies. The original is an all time Halloween classic and the second has some really interesting social commentary and a fun, fast paced story with real stakes and tension. This movie however is so slow and plodding. There is nothing going on for most of the film.
The story actually has a lot of potential. Bringing monster students to the human world to prove we can co-exist nicely follows the themes of diversity and acceptance from the earlier films, and Marnie being the leader of this program continues her story arch of believing people can exist in both realms. The threat of the film, The Knights of the Iron Dagger, explain some of the conflict that lead to Halloweentown's creation and serves as a surprisingly somber allegory for real world hate groups. Unfortunately none of these ideas are fleshed out to their full potential.
We barely see the exchange students. We never see them in class. We never see them struggling to assimilate. We don't really see them do much at all. They only briefly talk about their experiences, which is so much more boring than actually seeing them. When they do finally start to fit in, we see it in a montage that last maybe one minute and only features two of the kids. Isn't this what the movie is supposed to be about? Can we develop the concept a little, give them personalities, funny fish-out-of-water set pieces, show them slowly starting to figure things out and find their place?
The Knights are another disappointing element. They're presented as an actual threat, like real world human violence kinda threat, but again we don't spend much time dealing with them. They send a few calling cards to scare Marnie, and she mostly ignores them. She doesn't seem that worried, and when she does finally take things more seriously, not much time is dedicated to it, although Kimberly J. Brown's performance really sells her concern. The movie was intended to be more "family friendly" and less scary than the previous installments so perhaps some of the threats and drama were removed from the final product.
Halloweentown doesn't actually appear in the movie (LAME), but do get some nice dungeon-y hidden rooms where the kids hideout and show their true forms. All the effects and makeup are great, a little more colorful than the previous films, but that's fine. However, like everything else good in the movie, we don't get enough of it. The actual high school is very modern and very boring. Remember the high school from a nightmare on elm street, gothic, dark wood, moody atmosphere? A better setting like that would have really helped the movie since we spend so much time in the real world. The only Halloweentown setting is a court room where judges control everything in Halloweentown as a tribunal? The first movies shows that the town has a Mayor, so I don't really understand how this municipal government works.
There are good elements. The performances are all good, the main cast is great actually, and I do enjoy seeing the characters from the previous movies return, although the younger sister doesn't get much screen time. The scene where the kids get upset at the depiction of monsters at a mall Halloween store is good, and has some genuine emotion. You feel bad for them. The carnival at the end where they recreate Halloweentown to push positive depictions of monsters is fun, if a little underwhelming, and it is nice to see Marnie succeed in uniting the two worlds.
The movie was made in 2004 as the young adult horror boom of the 1990s was dying out and Disney's best made for tv movies where behind them. In this time period, Halloweentown High is struggling to live up to it's legacy, and while I was really rooting for it, it's just really boring. It doesn't betray the characterization of the Cromwell family. It doesn't disrespect the lore/continuity or the themes of the previous movies. There's nothing to get mad about. It's just not terribly engaging, but it is the final film with the original cast, and that might be enough for you to want to seek it out.
The highlight of the movie is Debbie Reynold's little orange pumpkin car. It's the cutest thing.
