When it came down to choosing a Halloween-themed movie to celebrate the spooky season, I was feeling nostalgic this week, so I chose a classic from my childhood: “Casper Meets Wendy.”

“Casper Meets Wendy” is the 1998 sequel to the original “Casper” movie. The movie also serves as Hillary Duff’s acting debut in a starring role. 

I had high expectations for this movie based on my childhood memories and the cast, but sadly my expectations weren’t met.

The movie follows Wendy, a little witch, and her three aunts, who are also witches. When they find out an evil warlock is after Wendy to stop her from becoming more powerful than he is, Wendy and her family go into hiding.

The four witches decide to live a normal life while vacationing at a summer resort where they struggle to live without their magic. Wendy also struggles to fit in and make friends.

Just as Wendy is about to give up on finding a friend, she meets Casper the friendly ghost who is also at the resort vacationing with his uncles.

Casper and Wendy bond over their dysfunctional families and fun summer activities. Everything goes great, until the evil warlock Desmond Spellman tracked Wendy to the resort.

Wendy and her aunts tried to escape, but Desmond trapped them in their cabin and opened up the evil portal that would destroy Wendy. Wendy did her best to try and fight Desmond with her magic to no avail.

Desmond overpowers Wendy and she ends up falling down the portal. But fear not, Casper shows up to save the day.

Casper flies down the portal and pulls Wendy back up to safety while Casper’s uncles scare Desmond and he falls down the portal himself.

Everyone shares emotional hugs and leaves the resort to go back home.

The end.

I found this movie eventful at some parts, but the plot was very confusing and the acting was not great.

The movie had underlying halloween themes with the ghosts and witches, but didn’t capitalize on the theme. In fact, I thought it was more of a summer comedy than a Halloween fantasy. It made for a confusing and disjointed plot.

I found the ghostly antics of Casper’s uncles sort of funny and honestly, it was the only thing that kept me watching.

As far as the acting goes, let’s just say it was evident how young Hillary Duff was at the time this movie was filmed. Her acting was mediocre and the way she portrayed emotions made the film feel awkward at times.

They say the sequel is never as good as the original, and this movie is proof. The movie did not live up to the standards of the first “Casper” film and was pretty disappointing. 

The movie did not really succeed in getting me into the Halloween spirit.

This movie has a 5/10 rating on IMDb and I will say I agree with the rating. It wasn’t the worst film I have ever seen, but I probably won’t watch it again.

If you are looking for a Halloween movie to watch to get you in the Halloween groove, I’m sure there are great ones out there, but “Casper Meets Wendy” isn’t one of them.

Fanetti can be reached at [email protected].