PLOT: A mother embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her son from a demonic children’s show host who is kidnapping kids.
REVIEW: Hulu has been making a concentrated effort to give the Horror genre it’s due with plenty of low-budget films with interesting concepts releasing every October as part of their Huluween initiative. While not all have landed, I appreciate the fact that they’re trying something different. Shudder can’t do everything for the horror world. And I was intrigued by the idea of a kid’s television host coming out of the television to murder parents and kidnap children. It’s a terrifying idea with so many possibilities to get under your skin. It comes from an episode of Bite Size Halloween which has now been expanded into a full-length feature film. So how exactly does Mr. Crocket fare? Better than you would think.
Mr. Crocket follows a mother (Jerrika Hinton) as she witnesses her son kidnapped by an otherworldly entity. With the cops not believing her, she attempts to find out more about this mysterious kid’s show host that her son was obsessed with prior to his abduction. The idea of someone coming out of our television sets has been done before, with The Ring being the most famous instance. And with nearly every home having its own television, this fear can be universal. The story is set in the year 1993, but that hardly ever really comes into play. It feels like they just really wanted to use CRT televisions and VHS tapes since they’re a great visual. And I can’t blame them.
Jerrika does a fine job but her character is a bit frustrating. She treats her kid poorly and sets the stage for Crocket to take him so it’s hard to find her endearing. But I didn’t mind, as this was one of those films where it was fun to root for the villain. Memorable bad guys are hard to come by but Elvis Nolasco‘s Mr. Crocket scares in just the right way. He’s able to do the Mr. Rogers side well but it’s his evil side that is the most intriguing. There’s a playful almost Freddy Krueger-like quality to him. His smile, happy demeanor, sweater, and bow tie really make for an unsettling image. And there’s just enough that remains unexplained that makes him all the more intriguing. There are times when he switches from good to evil and it’s such a great transition.
Despite the subject matter of children being abducted, the way it’s framed allows the narrative to still be fun. The parents who are being killed are treating their children like crap, so you’re practically rooting Crocket on as he takes them out. And I loved the almost Nightmarescape of Crocket’s world. With plenty of Dutch angles and floaty camera tricks, the visuals really impress. It’s clear that director Brandon Espy wanted to keep things visually interesting, which helps out with some of the stereotypical story beats.
I was a little disappointed that they didn’t fully utilize some of the creative elements throughout the entire runtime. The first set of kills involve Crocket using his Pee Wee’s Playhouse style furniture to murder, yet they seem forgotten about in the second half outside of a moment or two. Because of that, Crocket’s powerset feels a little unbalanced. Why would he not use those in the end when they seem to be the most powerful of his abilities? There’s plenty of sloppiness around the narrative, with coincidence being an all-too-common plot device.
Mr. Crocket feels like a great October movie to watch with friends as its goal is simply to entertain. There are some dumb moments but they weren’t dealbreakers for me as I really loved the concept of Crocket and his world was intriguing. There are plenty of fantastic visuals, fully taking advantage of the Pee Wee’s Playhouse in Hell aesthetic. They leave it open enough that we could get a sequel, which is what I’m most interested in as they could easily build on what works and excise what doesn’t. There’s a lot of potential here and I’m really hoping this isn’t our only run-in with Mr. Crocket.
MR. CROCKET STREAMS TO HULU ON OCTOBER 11TH, 2024.