Mr. Crocket has an extremely appealing premise for horror fans raised on VHS: the host of a children’s TV show (a cross between Pee-wee Herman and Mister Rogers with ill-fitting porcelain biters and a skipping cadence) is in makes a supernatural entity that kills through neglect and abusive parents. Its method of dispensation recalls A Nightmare on Elm Streetis Freddy Krueger, who transmogrifies the world into a brutally cartoonish bent. In his world, balls turn into bubbles, playtime never ends, and much more gruesome things happen. Directed by Brandon Espy (responsible for the short film of the same name presented as part of Hulu’s Halloween in bite-sized pieces), Mr. Crocket is, in fact, fighting a losing battle to live up to his vanity. The film does itself a great disservice by attempting to fulfill the long-running fantasy of anyone who feels like sing-along tapes don’t have enough gore. For most of its runtime, Mr. Crocket fails to constrain.

The story begins in Shurry Bottom, Pennsylvania. It’s 1993 and Darren (Jabari Striblin) is watching a videotape called Mr. Crocket’s World! His father (Akim Black) yells at him, breaking the series’ spell on young Darren. The boy heads to the dinner table, where his father proves himself as despicable as any generically lousy father. Watching television, Mr. Crocket looks on, shocked by the father’s behavior, and takes out the VCR. The rest, well, you have to see it; it’s grotesque, inarticulate and a promising introduction that falls somewhere between Creepy And Sesame Street.

Mr. Crocket’s exceptional premise will tickle horror fans of the VHS generation

The film doesn’t maximize its concept, instead sticking to a conventional kidnapping story

What makes Mr. Crocket so intriguing is that it offers a twist on the typical horror movie formula, at least in part. Mr. Crocket isn’t just a killer who goes on a mindless rampage. It is the vengeful spirit that seems to want to help abused children rather than devour them. Instead, he whisks them away like the Pied Piper (creepy implications intact), but not before meting out excessive justice to their parents. He does this with the help of his mascot sidekicks, including a bug-eyed chair and a fuzzy blue creature. Over the years, horror fans have seen killers willy-nilly wreak havoc on just about anyone who crosses their path and those who are more precise in selecting their targets. For Mr. Crocket, his choice of victims, those he considers “bad” parents, is enough to warrant at least a little curiosity about how it all plays out. But what happens on screen is a labor of familiarity, with tired tropes taking up too much space between moments of handmade inspiration.

After several false starts, the main story emerges. Darren, along with other neighborhood children, disappears. The film then jumps forward a year so the audience can meet the next victims in 1994: Major (Ayden Gavin) and his mother, Summer (Jerrika Hinton). Major’s father died, leaving the overworked mother to run the household alone. Soon after, a book box appears on the family’s lawn, with the cursed tape just waiting to be ripped out. Shortly after, Major also disappears and Summer sets out to investigate the strange events taking place in Shurry Bottom. What happens is a boring, uninspired quest seen countless times in other films that haven’t had the added benefit of a supernatural TV show host. Without Mr. Crocket’s demonic implications, Summer’s desperate search for her son and answers would be indistinguishable from any kidnapping thriller and police procedural on television. Still, the chance to see more of Mr. Crocket and his Hellevision show is enough to stay glued to the screen.

Summer asks around and finds no help from law enforcement or posting flyers at the base. She meets a very strange neighborhood lady (Kristolyn Lloyd) who may be the sane one of the group and a strangely excited father, Eddie (Alex Akpobome), who wants to help Summer and reunite with his own child. Even though the actors do their best with the material, Mr. Crocket is made up mostly of paper characters who don’t do much to stand out both in the film and amid the glut of similar fare. Their actions, decisions, and motivations are all reduced to what they can do to advance the plot rather than delve deeper into their personalities and humanity. Worse still, the plot is really the least interesting aspect of the film.

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If the dialogue from Summers and the other characters seemed perfunctory, co-writers Espy and Carl Reid clearly had a blast with Mr. Crocket’s dialogue. They created a character who is all about his propensity for violence, but just enough to make it seem like he could teach kids the ABCs. Through false lessons and his own extreme ends, Mr. Crocket is the best part of his eponymous film. Bringing Mr. Crocket to life is Elvis Nolasco, who does a fantastic job as the smiling, sweater-wearing host. In the film’s best scenes, Mr. Crocket runs a gamut of emotions, suggesting the need to keep up appearances during his hosting duties and the behind-the-scenes chaos of making a children’s show. Mr. Crocket remembers a number of Adult Swim characters following Tim and Eric Great show, excellent work!in which tempers are short, and the whole charade of prime-time television is just a flimsy facade that can shatter in no time.

Unlike the other characters in the film, Mr. Crocket is someone the audience wants to see walking around living rooms and his gang of anthropomorphic, flesh-hungry friends. It’s because when they appear, the results are gratifyingly crude, amplified by thrilling practical effects and tasteless flourishes that will surely provide fodder for splatter. Every kill sequence, the signature of films like this, is brilliant, delivering gooey, dark outcomes for bad parents. Later, when more supporting characters from Mr. Crocket’s world come into play, there is more than enough to suggest what a Large Marge feature film would be like. But the rest is just junk food.

Mr. Crocket is held back by its generic story and shallow characters

The practical effects of the film are the only ones that can be watched

However, in almost every other respect, Mr. Crocket we have the impression that he is reneging on his promise. Espy and Reid’s storyline does a disservice to its inspired core and concept. Summer seeks answers that the audience already knows in advance thanks to the prologue and adherence to the film’s formula. It’s hard not to get bored waiting for a climactic confrontation in the hopes that it will offer something unexpected, even subversive, to explain Mr. Crocket’s story and his true goals with his kidnapped children. Instead, the film goes for the most obvious answers and revelations that were basically spoiled beforehand by unsubtle foreshadowing and editing. The film doesn’t even really have any “twists”, since it answers most of its biggest questions before the titles even come out.

Aside from the telegraphed beats, the acting is good, but the performers have very little to work with. They frantically move from one interaction to the next without the audience really understanding or caring what it is about. There is a notion in contemporary popular entertainment – ​​especially now that mid-budget character studies and articles about real characters have been left out – that the audience will sympathize with anyone who checks certain boxes. Mr. Crocket’s the characters are guilty of this mindset, as their flat personalities and goals can be summed up in a few overused clichés from horror films and kidnapping thrillers. Yes, the audience feels bad for Summer, who isn’t a bad parent at all. Unlike the other violent monsters seen in the film, she is simply exhausted by life. However, The audience still doesn’t learn much about her beyond her role as a symbol and foil to Mr. Crocket’s never-ending childhood.

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Even a bit of Mr. Crocket’s story late in the game, rendered in an inspired animated segment, is missing something crucial, something horror fans have never seen before. There’s not really a clear motivation for him to do what he does, and any unpacking would suggest that he’s just perpetuating the bad behavior that was once inflicted on him. Mr. Crocket wasn’t made to question any aspects of its characters and really delve into the darker implications of its story; the film exists simply to get to its big, bloody finale. Finally, the audience gets there, and it’s great. Finally, the audience is introduced to Mr. Crocket’s lair, where the real star, the special effects, are on full display. Those who endure what is essentially a prime-time special about stranger danger will see some of the most creative monstrous creations to hit the small screen in a long time. Remember to turn it off before the finale turns into a tired lesson in standing up to the bad guy.

Mr. Crocket is now available to watch on Hulu.

A mother embarks on a perilous quest to save her son from a demonic children’s show host who kidnaps children.

Director

Brandon Espy

Release date

October 11, 2024

Cast

Elvis Nolasco, Jerrika Hinton, Kristolyn Lloyd, Ayden Gavin, Alex Alomar Akpobome, Lyla Randall, Jabari Striblin, Riley Vinson

Writers

Brandon Espy, Carl Reid

Runtime

88 minutes

Character(s)

Mr. Crocket

Benefits

• Mr. Crocket himself, Elvis Nolasco, is fantastic as the twisted host of the TV show.
• Mr. Crocket’s furry and weird friends are fantastically designed

Disadvantages

• Every scene that doesn’t involve Mr. Crocket is too tired and too formulaic to elicit feelings.

Develop