Halloweentown High

Release Date: October 8, 2004

Watch Date: October 28, 2023

“Back to school’s never been so cool…or supernatural for Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown), her grandmother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds), and her family of witches. When Marnie convinces the Halloweentown Council to send several teenagers to her high school in the mortal world, she even promises to give up her magic if any harm comes to them. But soon, Marnie and her new friends are in trouble and out of luck when the evil Knight of the Iron Dagger appears. He’s determined to destroy all things magical, and it’s up to Marnie to save her high school, the human world and her magic.”

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    I don’t care what Bob says, or thinks, or implies about the Halloweentown franchise. I really don’t. He can think it’s silly, and absurd. He can think that movies called Halloweentown should actually feature Halloweentown and not just reference it. He can think that because it doesn’t feature a trip to Halloweentown it’s not a good Halloweentown movie. I don’t care. Honestly. I don’t.

    But in a more real and true way, I do.

    Because Halloweentown High is the pinnacle of the Halloweentown franchise. Aggie is not under duress or turned into stone, and is her charming comedic self for the entire film. There’s a legitimate love interest. The mother character is kind of more active. Marnie and Dylan play off of each other much more. We get to be introduced to a whole host of creatures who reside in Halloweentown. It’s fantastic.

    This movie does not pull any punches. If you haven’t seen the previous two Halloweentown movies, you’re not going to have a clue about what’s going on in this film. It makes multiple references to past plot points and doesn’t stop for a second to explain them. This film has things to do, intrigue to weave. It does not have time to explain why the portal is open all the time, or why the Halloweentown residents moved to a different dimension, or even why Marnie is a witch who lives in our world and not in Halloweentown. It doesn’t even have time for the little sister character, who was a major character of the past two films. It barely has time for an introduction, barreling instead head first into the plot.

    Get teenagers from Halloweentown to integrate and be accepted by the mortals of the human world.

    Why would this be an issue? Why are there two separate worlds? Why hasn’t this been attempted before. Watch the other two movies if you want answers. We’re busy over here being afraid of Knights Of The Iron Dagger, and referencing brooms our grandmother bought us in the first movie, and completely forgetting old goblin love interests that would have fit perfectly well into this plot line. We’re busy, basically, is what I’m saying.

    This could be the final Halloweentown movie and I would be much happier about it, and honestly, in my canon, it is.

    And Bob is wrong. It’s a great Halloweentown movie. Don’t even listen to his opinion on it. Be like me, and don’t care, and definitely don’t let it bother you.