96 - Don't Think About It

    An unhappy teen girl inadvertently summons a monster, which kidnaps her brother.  She teams up with a boy to rescue her brother and defeat the monster.
    This is a spin-off of the R.L. Stein TV series The Haunting Hour.  I love the show.  It’s aimed at kids, but it treats them with a good amount of respect.  There’s a huge amount of diversity, and the show is careful to not always give happy endings and not always cast white males in protagonist roles.
    This movie continues that tradition.  A female protagonist isn’t entirely unique - there are movies like Halloween that also qualify.  But this is an instance where she isn’t actually in peril.  She’s in the rescuing position, saving her bratty little brother from the monster.  The other male character is someone that they paint as sort of an idiot.
    As a movie, it does feel a little disjointed.  The setup is way too long.  It feel like they reach about the hour mark before the primary problem is reached.  It isn’t a bad watch though.  It’s not about to gather a regular audience, but it’s still great to see more horror aimed at kids without pandering.