The defence The Sentimental Softie
“It owes the canon nothing.”
The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.
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Mostly Ghostly
Family · Fantasy · Horror · 2008
Based on the successful book series by R.L. Stine, this spooky tale finds 11-year-old Max making a deal with the ghosts who haunt his home. If Max helps them find what was responsible for their parents' disappearance, they'll help him transform from a social nobody to the most popular kid in school.
Movie details
Mostly Ghostly
“From the creator of Goosebumps!”
2008 Family · Fantasy · Horror 1h 33m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
Based on the successful book series by R.L. Stine, this spooky tale finds 11-year-old Max making a deal with the ghosts who haunt his home. If Max helps them find what was responsible for their parents' disappearance, they'll help him transform from a social nobody to the most popular kid in school.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Mostly Ghostly?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Once Bitten
Comedy · 1985
Mark wants to lose his virginity, but his girlfriend wants to wait. Unfortunately for both of them, a 400-year-old vampire Countess needs to turn a virgin into a vampire before Halloween in order to preserve her own youthful appearance, and when she finds Mark, she turns his life upside-down.
The Addams Family
Comedy · 1991
When a man claiming to be long-lost Uncle Fester reappears after 25 years lost, the family plans a celebration to wake the dead. But the kids barely have time to warm up the electric chair before Morticia begins to suspect Fester is fraud when he can't recall any of the details of Fester's life.
Candy Cane Lane
Comedy · 2023
Determined to win the neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest, family man Chris makes a pact with an elf to help him out-do the competition. However, the elf casts a spell bringing the twelve days of Christmas to life, unleashing chaos on the small unsuspecting town.
Flora & Ulysses
Family · 2021
When Flora rescues a squirrel she names Ulysses, she is amazed to discover he possesses unique superhero powers, which take them on an adventure of humorous complications that ultimately change Flora's life--and her outlook--forever.
The Monster Club
Horror · 1981
A vampire attacks a horror author on the street and then invites him to a nearby club as a gesture of gratitude, which turns out to be a meeting place for assorted creatures of the night. The vampire then regales him with three stories, each interspersed with musical performances at the club.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Fantasy · 2024
The Spengler family returns to where it all started - the iconic New York City firehouse - to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who've developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.
Shorts
Family · 2009
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
Beetlejuice
Fantasy · 1988
A newly dead New England couple seeks help from a deranged demon exorcist to scare an affluent New York family out of their home.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Comedy · 2024
After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Betelgeuse, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.
We Have a Ghost
Horror · 2023
After Kevin finds a ghost named Ernest haunting his new home, he becomes an overnight social media sensation. But when Kevin and Ernest go rogue to investigate the mystery of the latter's past, they become targets of the CIA.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Richard Correll
Written by
Richard Correll · Pat Proft
Madison Pettis
Tara Roland
Sterling Beaumon
Max Doyle
Luke Benward
Nicolas "Nicky" Roland
Brian Stepanek
Phears
David DeLuise
John Doyle
Kim Rhodes
Harriett Doyle
Adam Hicks
Colin Doyle
Court is in session
Put Mostly Ghostly on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”
It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.