Sad to say, this movie is just lame. Cheap special effects, a stupid plot and some really dull acting, especially from the adults. It's hard to know what the intended audience for this film is. It's probably a bit scary for real small kids and it is far too dumb for preteens. Maybe the demographic between those two age groups will enjoy it, if they're not too demanding. There is very little here to appeal to adults. One bright point is the young lad who plays Max. He shows a real flair for comedy; unfortunately he is given very poor direction and is allowed to over act mercilessly. I guess subtlety wasn't really something the makers of this flick were going for. The kids in this do much better than the adult 'actors' though. The adults are wooden and don't show a great deal of acting talent. I note that at least a couple of them are regular participants in this kind of production. I see that, unbelievable as it sounds, a sequel to this movie was made quite a few years later, although it stars none of the original cast. I guess they had gone onto bigger and better things. I hope the kids did anyway.