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gamisan
Reviews
Easter Is (1974)
Disturbing & memorable
I doubt that this movie succeeds as the producers intended, but as a mix of terrible 70's animation, wrong-footed Christian teaching, and just...some very strange things, I think it's an artifact worth seeking out. Produced by Screen Images, a strange Lutheran production company, "Easter is..." seeks to explain the miracle of Christ's resurrection by way of a boy and his dog, some kidnappers, rats, a surprising amount of blood, and a wholly inappropriate resurrection from the dead. And Leslie Uggams. It's become a cliché to say "this show is like (genre) meets David Lynch", but there is a definite vibe of a Charlie Brown special that has unexpectedly veered off in dangerous, and strangely dreamlike, direction. Highly recommended.
Casper (1995)
NOT appropriate for small children
I'm really surprised by the positive reviews for Casper, because my reaction to it was really negative, especially as a film for family viewing. I'm not against dark movies for children, especially if they help to frame difficult things in simple terms - I think films like The Iron Giant or a Nightmare Before Christmas are healthy viewing for even younger children (say 4 & up. Casper, however, really struck me a being wide of the mark for a family audience, as it doesn't appear that children were really taken into account much when the film was made.
This movie may be fine for older children and adults, but please heed the PG rating - there is a great deal of smoking in the movie, and quite a bit of language and humor that is far too adult for small children. It resembled to me more of a poor remake of Ghostbusters, rather than an honest-to-goodness family film. The special effects skew toward the disturbing side, the humor is mostly violent slapstick, the subtext is desperately creepy, and the casual attitude towards suicide, murder and death is really, really inappropriate. Definitely a movie I wish my child had never seen.