This Day in Horror History: CASPER with Christina Ricci Was Released in 1995
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, Universal Pictures released Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and Land of the Lost director Brad Silberling’s adaptation of Casper with Christina Ricci (The Addams Family) and Bill Pullman (Lost Highway).
In case you might not know, the film is based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo.
It was the first feature film to have a fully CGI character in the lead role and goes for a much darker interpretation of the Friendly Ghost with its theme of death, most notably providing the title character a tragic backstory that addresses his death.
What do you think of Brad Silberling’s Casper? Make sure to hit us up and let us know in the comments below or over on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
It stars Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, and Amy Brenneman, and also features the voices of Malachi Pearson, Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey, and Brad Garrett. Cameos Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz from Ghostbusters, Clint Eastwood, Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Gibson, and John Kassir as the Crypt Keeper.
As you might imagine, the film centers on Casper (Malachi Pearson), a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey (Bill Pullman) arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci). Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.
Rated PG for mild language and thematic elements, the film sports a 47% over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that reads: A meandering, mindless family movie that frequently resorts to special effects and transparent sappiness.
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