Mr Crocket

Discount Freddy wants to be your friend to the end!

Continuing into Ahhctober 2024 we have Mr. Crocket, a very bland supernatural TV host who only wishes to protect kids from their bad parents. Too bad he only has a fraction of charisma Richard Pryor had. (Yes, he reminded me of the late, great Pryor.)

This is another movie that's trying to cash-in on nostalgia. Yesterday, for Ahhctober 2024, I watched Deer Camp '86 that obviously took place in the mid-80s but barely put any effort into that illusion. This one, a decade later in 1993 and the only thing tying it to that year was VCRs.

I didn't mind this supernatural horror. It's campy and, at times, pretty gory. Plus, SOME of the jump scares, even when I forecasted their arrival, were effective. And it's harmless/leave your brain at the door, horror fun. The unfortunate thing was, again, Mr. Crocket's a pretty mid villain.

Anyone can see the Freddy influences and everyone can see Robert Englund's a bucket-full more effective than Elvis Nolasco playing the title character here. Additionally, I sincerely doubt the kids these ages would've been so enthralled in this Blues Clues/Pee Wee's Playhouse downgrade.

Still, overall, it's inoffensive fun. Watch for some good gore and bad parents getting their due.

***

Final Thoughts: I kept thinking Five Nights at Freddy's even though it's only a slight carbon copy. I can see the influences, but it's not even at FNAF-levels.

To be honest, I have no idea what to make of this...movie. I originally thought it was a kids' "horror," like Goosebumps or Hocus Pocus. It's clear in a big way during the first two minutes that it's not.

It straddles that line between kids and adults, though: kids in the acting and special effects, adult in the gore and swearing. Also, I think they ripped the music from E. T.

Ssssooo, what the frig did I just watch? I *still* have no idea.

Don't bother with it if you have anything else on your watch list. But if you don't, check it out. It's a weird movie: a weirdness crossed between you watching someone do something stupid and you're embarrassed for them and you watching someone do something unexpected and you're calling 911 on them.

So check it out if you like practical effects from the 80s and acting from Sleepaway Camp. If not, Event Horizon is due for another viewing.

Can't believe some of the bad reviews this movie is getting!

Having grown up in the 90s, I remember the torture of having to watch Barney on repeat as the TV served as a babysitter for my younger sibling, so the premise hits me in the childood.

Mr. Crocket is a psychotic supernatural Mr. Rodgers with a nightmarish dash of PeeWee's playhouse for his realm.

Solid story and practical effects makes for spooky fun reminiscent of a good old school episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, or a tamer version of Tales from the Hood

Only complaint I have is it's hard to imagine the mom wanting her son Major back as he's a complete and utter ****

Ignore the low score ratings and reviews. It may be far from perfect but that can't change the fact that it is a horror movie that evolves around a very unsettling horror figure, portrayed by Elvis Lolasco who gives a great performance as a demonic children's entertainer. His ability to change moods and transform from a happy show host to a malevont entity in an instant steals the show. Yes, some directing choices are questionable, the demonic toys looked more silly than scary ( I can't explain why the thought they would fit in the movie), some moments were unintenionally funny but the spooky and surrealistic atmosphere is there, the dread aura of Mr Crocket is there and the movie has some good stuff worth exploring. Some may say the movie didnt have enough scary scenes and those that tried to scare failed (e.g. The low bufget movie splatter scenes). In my opinion, the real scare is the underlying nature of the antagonist, a truly evil character who hides his malevolence behind a child-friendly personality and an actually hellish kid's show. I want to see more of the Mr Crocket, in the future, he is a horror villain that honestly captured my interest.

Ok, i really wanted to like this one - with a very promising opening sequence and incredibly novel concept, i felt like this was going to be a hit.....but no so much.

Its basically mr. Rogers meets freddy krueger/pennywise (IT) - a childrens TV host comes out of the TV to kill parents and abduct children - very novel concept with a ton of potential but it went in a very campy direction (not in a good way) and lost a lot of steam about halfway through.

The acting was pretty stiff and the writing wasnt great. It did have some pretty decent practical special effects and the puppetry was done well. But other than that, i didnt feel like this one lived up to its full potential.

It felt like the writer/director had a concept built around special effects and then shoehorned everything else in to complete it - everything other than the special effects are an after thought and fall real flat.

Overall, i would not reco this one. If redone in a different way and taken more seriously, yeah, sure, but i dont think its worth your time - skip.