Haunted Lighthouse

This is a TERRIBLE film. Joe Dante should be ashamed of himself. The lighting is awful and the acting is bad. The story is also very disappointing. Any one of the old R.L. Stine TV show scripts from the 80's/90's would have been better than this. Also, Rachel Hunter is listed in the credits, but she does not appear in any version of this film that I have seen. The 3-D effects are very poorly executed, and are very predictable. Also, this movie, at about half an hour, is much too long for a theme park presentation. Did anyone mention to the film-makers that one of the most important things about a 3-D movie is to make sure to use maximum light in your image?

I was really looking forward to seeing R.L. Stein's Haunted Lighthouse because Busch Gardens Williamsburg had run the 4D show Pirates for the last five seasons. I enjoyed the show, but it was sort of a let-down because it was so similar to Pirates. In fact, there's one scene where Christopher Lloyd is looking through a telescope (and the telescope appears to be coming straight at you) that was identical to a scene in Pirates. Still, the show was good and had some moments that surprised and starteled me. Haunted Lighthouse was a fun, 20 minute 4D movie that was a fun and relaxing way to beat some of the heat during the day. It was worth seeing once. However, if you're going to be visiting Busch Gardens Williamsburg and only want to do one 4D show, I recommend Cork Screw Hill in the park's Ireland section. I've done Cork Screw Hill about 10 times now in the two years since Ireland opened and I enjoy it every time! It's a much more involved 4D experience.

The only thing haunted about "Haunted Lighthouse" was the fact that about 30 minutes of my life has now passed on and I will be forever reminded about how I cannot ever get it back.

The "Spy Kids" series, Warner Bros. cartoons, and the Muppets constantly show that you can do family entertainment that will appeal to everyone and avoid heavy shipments of cheese.

I would say the writing was primarily what was at fault here. I've never read any of R.L. Stine's books but I am familiar with the genres the author deals with (early teen thrillers). I can't get on the actors here too much. The kids were.. well.. not every kid can be Haley Joel Osment.

The adults were primarily Christopher Lloyd and Michael McKean since Lea Thompson only had a scant two or three lines and Weird Al was mainly scenery for while he was present. Lloyd and McKean did performances that were right on par with what the film was supposed to be. The problem was the material they were given to work with wasn't up to par with them.

The 3-D effects featured were well done and the '4-D' interactions (water spraying, buzzing vibrations from the seats, wind blowing, etc) were pretty effective. It's just a shame that the entire package that was delivered could not compare to the wrapping that encased it.

For anyone visiting Busch Gardens I recommend seeing it once (because I think every flick they have in the Globe should be viewed at least that many times) but similar to their "Auction at Castle O'Sullivan" in Ireland... once is more than enough for "Haunted Lighthouse".

Neat idea, needed more of a plot than what was likely enscribed on the back of a napkin in 5 minutes by the author.

This was a cute little family flick where they give you cheap thrills by spraying water at you and having various items popping out of the screen. worth watching as long as you dont mind getting wet. It starts out with a story about how the lighthouse became haunted. Then you come to current time where a ghost boy brings two siblings to the lighthouse and trys to kill them. And it ends with a comical cameo by Weird Al. Overall 2.5 out of 4 stars

Please understand that this movie was created mainly for kids. Sometimes, kids appreciate fantasy movies more than adults do. Perhaps the adult has lost part of that imagination he/she used to possessed as a kid. I liked this movie and I am sure a lot of kids would like it too. I recommend it if you are going to Sea World or Disneyland where they show it in 4-D.