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"CASPER"
(1995) (Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman) (PG)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Moderate Minor Mild Mild to Moderate Mild
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Minor None Mild to Moderate None Minor
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Minor Minor Minor Moderate Moderate


QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: A researcher and his daughter move into a mansion haunted by a ghost and his three mischievous uncles.
PLOT:
In Friendship, Maine the haunted Whipstaff manor is inherited by the self-centered Carrigan (CATHY MORIARTY) who is accompanied by her aide, Dibs (ERIC IDLE). She hires a "ghost shrink," Dr. James Harvey (BILL PULLMAN) to get rid of the ghosts. Harvey works with the "living impaired" ever since his wife, Amelia, died. He drags along his daughter, Kat (CHRISTINA RICCI), from place to place to help ghosts, but his real intent is to contact his dead wife. Arriving in Friendship, they find the manor inhabited by a young ghost, Casper and his three uncles, Stretch, Fatso, and Stinky. Casper wants to have a friend (and he finds one in Kat), but his uncles want no one in their home. Soon they all adapt to each other but then must put up with Carrigan and Dibs who believe there to be buried treasure in the manor.
WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Sure. Ricci is a draw for the younger crowd and a comedy about ghosts filled with special effects will draw all ages.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG
For mild language and thematic elements.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • CHRISTINA RICCI plays an average teenage girl with no discernible bad traits.
  • BILL PULLMAN plays the father looks for ghosts while being oblivious to his motherless daughter's needs.
  • CATHY MORIARTY plays a greedy despicable portrait of a woman.
  • CASPER is the friendly ghost who just wants someone to play with.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • The three uncles take James to a bar where they're drinking.
  • Later we see James rather drunk, and he then falls to his death in a construction pit.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • A priest walks out of the manor with his head completely twisted around backwards.
  • The decomposed "Crypt Keeper" character from the TV show "Tales From the Crypt" shows up in a cameo.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Carrigan is upset that all she inherited was the decrepit manor and she isn't a nice person at all throughout the movie.
  • The three uncles aren't nice to Casper and treat him like their personal slave and aren't happy with all of the work he does for them.
  • Several students aren't nice to Kat at her new school.
  • FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES
  • The opening of the movie has two boys entering the dark and spooky mansion.
  • The arrival and appearance(menacing looking, big eyes, sharp teeth) of the three uncle ghosts might scare younger kids.
  • The decomposed "Crypt Keeper" character from "Tales From the Crypt" shows up in a cameo and may be scary to younger kids who aren't familiar with him.
  • Young kids might be scared the first time Kat and her dad encounter the ghosts and are chased around the house (before we find out the three uncles ghosts have funny personalities.)
  • The ghosts melt in the sunlight and their agonizing "death" might be scary looking.
  • The first trip into the basement might be scary to the younger ones (it's dark with weird flashes of light).
  • Carrigan's ghost is scary looking.
  • Carrigan's ghost "crosses over" and her agonizing disappearance might be scary.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Swords: Used by the ghosts to attack James.
  • Old pistol: Used by the ghosts to shoot paintings like skeet targets.
  • Rifle: Planned to be used by the ghosts to kill James and make him one of their own.
  • Battle axe: Used by Carrigan as she tries to kill Dibs.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrase: "This sucks" (in reference to being sucked up into a vacuum cleaner.) "Shut up," "Piss off," "This really bites," and "The bitch is back."
  • The ghosts throw food at James.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • (If your kids would find the details in the "Frightening/Tense Scenes" category scary, then they'll probably find the music scary as well.)
  • Such music accompanies the scenes that may or may not be frightening depending on your kids.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None.
  • PROFANITY
  • 3 damn's, 1 crap, 2 hell's.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Casper enthusiastically says "There's a girl on my bed -- Yes!" when Kat (not seeing the invisible Casper) sits on the bed.
  • Innuendo from the ghosts trapped inside a vacuum cleaner: "Who's got their pointy head against me?" "That's not my head."
  • There is the implication of talking about the "birds and the bees" between Kat and her dad where he starts to talk about that and she says "It's too late" and then rephrases that to "It's not that late."
  • SMOKING
  • Carrigan snuffs out a cigarette on a table top.
  • Stretch carries around a cigar.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Kat is upset when her dad (now a ghost) doesn't remember her (but she finally reminds him).
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Death and dying.
  • Losing a parent (and forgetting what they were like).
  • Constantly moving and thus having no friends.
  • VIOLENCE
  • A wrecking ball smashes into a car.
  • The ghosts thrust swords through a door at James.
  • The ghosts and James have a dueling match with umbrellas and a plunger.
  • The ghosts hit Casper several times (including once where they literally knock him to the moon.)
  • Carrigan takes a battle axe and tries to kill Dibs (so that he'll become a ghost).
  • Carrigan slips and falls from an upper floor window (and doesn't get hurt).
  • Carrigan tries to run over Dibs with truck and ends up crashing into a tree. She then falls to her death as she steps out over a cliff edge.
  • The ghosts plot to kill James (to turn him into their playmate ghost) and have a rifle for the deed (they later decide not to).
  • James falls to his death while drunkenly stepping into a construction pit.
  • Carrigan's ghost knocks Dibs out a window.



  • Reviewed April 20, 1996

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