SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

LovecraftLass I'll lay out the plot of Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour (quite the title, huh?) real quick since none of the synopses I've found make it very clear. Don't worry, there won't be any spoilers as most of what I'm going to say is shown in the first ten minutes or so:Sarah Landon has recently lost her best friend in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. When she's invited to spend the weekend with her friend's grandmother, she goes. On the way into town her car breaks down mysteriously so she ends up staying a little longer than planned. The mechanic has his assistant give her a ride to the grandmother's house but before she goes the mechanic tells her all about Matt's family. Apparently Matt and David's mother got in a car accident with her nephew, Johnny, town sports star and all around great guy. His dad was not so nice of a guy. He was always bragging about his son and when the crash happened he blamed his sister for Johnny's death and threatened to kill her son when David reaches the age his son was when the crash happened, 21. He was found dead, the day of his son's funeral. Afterwards his ghost torments Matt and David's mother, driving her insane. Their father, being the charming man he is, left his sons with an almost catatonic mother. David withdraws into himself, searching for a way to evade the curse. So that's the story Sarah jumps into.The writing could be a bit better. A lot of the exposition is clunky and I honestly thought that it was partly adapted from a book. It was supposed to be the start of a series and I think if they had kept it as a video release it would have fared better. I'm a little disappointed it didn't, to be honest. However, the exposition cuts down on some of the moments that may be more intense for younger viewers. The acting is a bit awkward at times and you can definitely tell that the actors are not pros. I can hear you now...why give the movie a three? Because it's a cute, engaging story that is actually pretty coherent and follows its own logic well. The movie moves a bit slowly in the beginning due to all of the flashbacks and exposition but after that it moves at a fairly even pace. I think most of the low ratings come from adults viewing it with adult eyes. Most of the kids that have watched it (that I know of) have enjoyed it.The cinematography in Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour isn't stunning but, again, it's adequate. It's not grainy, jerky or choppily edited. In fact, the editing is actually pretty good. There are no unnecessary scenes and they go together in a coherent, well- progressed manner. The few effects seemed to be mostly practical. Not surprising for a lower budget movie. They stick to what is easily done but it's also realistic within the frame of the movie. The ghostly effects are probably CGI (or a reasonable facsimile) but they didn't get too ambitious and make it look goofy.The character of Sarah Landon is played to what I believe is the best of Rissa Walters' ability (and it was refreshing to see a girl who is pretty but not unrealistically so). The characters of the brothers are played by actual brothers and they bring what they have to the table too. They may not be pros but they give it their best and that counts for something. The story, despite the grim sounding outline above, is perfectly suitable for younger kids. I would put the age range between 7 or 8 - 13. To be honest, I still watch it from time to time, myself. I first watched it with my son when he was around 10 and he loved it. It had just the right amount of spookiness and creepiness for a younger audience. There might be one minor swear (I believe it's damn or hell). The romance angle (and you will rarely hear me say this) was cute and pretty believable. It wasn't insta-love or insta-lust, it was a date. There was no sucking of faces or pawing which will especially make it suitable for younger viewers.So if you want a spooky story and don't mind acting ability that is more serviceable than outstanding, Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour is a great choice for those young ones that are in the in- betweens.

Wizard-8 "Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour" was intended to be the start of a series of movies concerning a Nancy Drew-like young woman investigating mysterious phenomenons. To date, no further movies have been made about this character, and seeing this movie provides some strong clues as to why. Do you remember those ultra low budget shot on videotape movies that plagued video stores in the 1980s? Well, in many ways this movie seems like an homage to those efforts. There's really cheap cinematography, nothing really in the way of production values, a flat and boring feeling throughout, and almost no special effects (and the few that there are being really inexpensive). And while the movie's title has the supposed protagonist's name in it, we learn very little about this young woman, one reason being that the movie more often than not loses its focus on her and concentrates on other characters. It's hard to believe that this movie got a substantial theatrical release... until seeing that it was handled by Freestyle Releasing.

KawaiiKiwi I was looking for something to watch that wouldn't require too much thought, something quick and fun, nothing too complicated. When I saw the 3/10 rating on IMDb, I almost didn't watch the movie. In the end, I still did, and I'm glad I did. It was nothing special, but I wanted to be entertained, and that's exactly what the movie did. Nothing less, nothing more.As other people have mentioned, the movie is like a cross between Nancy Drew and a Goosebump episode. It's filmed cheaply, with unknown actors that don't deliver any ground-breaking performances, but the script is well put together and interesting. The intrigue is surprisingly captivating, and there are no slow parts, resulting in a fast-paced movie where you don't really have time to be bored or annoyed.The 'horror' parts of the movie are extremely cliché, and somewhat funny because they fail to surprise, but for younger kids this is just enough, more would be too much. Everything falls into place a bit too easily during the movie and the ending is ridiculous, but until that point the unfolding of the story is great, if kept in mind that this is a thriller/mystery for children. The ending supposes there will be a continuation, and I do hope so.It's fun to watch, just don't expect more than it is.

moldyqueso Contains some spoilers, though there isn't much to spoil!The story takes place in Pine Creek, where Sarah Landon visits a friend's home, Megan, who has recently past. After having mysterious car trouble, Sarah is forced to stay perhaps longer than she wanted to. Circumstance leads her to an old childhood friend, Matt, and a town legend involving Matt's brother, David, which is the main backdrop for this film. A car accident occurred thirteen years earlier that claimed the life of one of the town's young sports stars. The grieved father claimed that he would seek his revenge against the victim by killing her son, David, on his 21st birthday. The angry father then dies, but appears in ghostly form from time to time causing David's mother to have a nervous breakdown. David burrows into seclusion, researching paranormal phenomenon in hopes he can prevent this ominous act from happening. Sarah, with the help of David's brother Matt, try to help David thwart the inevitable. I saw this film merely from the perspective of a parent hoping for a decent movie to take his child to. My daughter is still very young and can't see anything too scary. The moment this film started, I was left with an overwhelming and uncontrollable realization...the acting is terrible! I'm not one to notice bad acting, unless it is lousy. Also, the story didn't make any sense. If you're that upset about a loss of a child, are you going to wait 13 years before you seek vengeance? The cinematography, background scenes, transitions and character framing all looked decent enough. It looks like this film was written, produced, directed and starring all family members which is great, but they are not actors. This movie would've been a hard thing to watch if it was a made-for-TV movie. The fact that this made it to theatrical release is quite sad. The scariest part I found about the movie, was when they said "Little did I know, that this was only the beginning," as this is the first movie planning for a series. Overall, very little entertainment value no matter what the age group and a waste of time and money.