Psycho's Movie Reviews #64: Casper (1995)

Casper is a 1995 American supernatural dark fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Brad Silberling, in his feature directorial debut, based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo. The film stars Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, and also features the voices of Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey, Brad Garrett and the introduction of Malachi Pearson in the title role.

The film makes extensive use of computer-generated imagery to create the ghosts, and it is the first feature film to have a fully CGI character in the lead role. It goes for a much darker interpretation of the Friendly Ghost in comparison to the comics, cartoons and films of the previous years, especially with its theme of death, most notably providing the character a tragic backstory that addresses his death.

Casper was released in cinemas on May 26, 1995, by Universal Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the film for its faithfulness to its source material (specifically the title character's portrayal), visual effects, music score, and performances, but criticized its dark story and humour. The film earned $287.9 million on a $55 million budget, and went on to spawn two direct-to-video/made-for-TV follow-up films and an animated television spin-off, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper.

Plot:

In Friendship, Maine following the death of her father, neurotic and spoiled heiress Carrigan Crittenden discovers she has only been left Whipstaff Manor in his will while his vast wealth has gone to several charities. Carrigan and her lawyer Dibs find a map within the will's papers that tell of an alleged treasure hidden inside the manor, but find the property haunted by a ghost named Casper and his poltergeist uncles the Ghostly Trio. They unsuccessfully attempt to force the ghosts out by way of paranormal experts and a demolitions team. A lonely Casper watches a news report about paranormal therapist James Harvey and is instantly smitten with his teenage daughter, Kat, prompting Casper to inspire Carrigan in summoning James to Whipstaff. Kat dislikes her father's reputation and obsession with contacting the ghost of his late wife, Amelia. The Harveys move into Whipstaff, but Casper's attempt to befriend them fails when his uncles try to torment and scare them away, which eventually fails.

Casper gains the Harveys' trust when he serves them breakfast, and follows Kat to school, where she becomes popular when her class learns she is living in Whipstaff, and agrees to host their Halloween party. Her envious classmate Amber plots with her boyfriend, Vic, to humiliate Kat during the party. James attempts therapy sessions with the Ghostly Trio, who not only try to avoid them, but also reveal they know Amelia; in exchange for convincing Carrigan to leave them alone, they promise to go through the "red tape" involved to get James a meeting with his wife.

Kat learns Casper has no memory of his life, and restores his old playroom in the attic to remind him. Casper recognizes an old wooden sled his father bought him, and remembers playing outside until he caught a severe cold and died of pneumonia, becoming a ghost to keep his father company. A newspaper article reveals that Casper's father was declared legally insane after he built a machine, the Lazarus, which he claimed could bring the dead back to life. Casper and Kat venture to the basement and find the Lazarus. Carrigan and Dibs sneak inside, steal the formula that powers the Lazarus, and plot to use the machine, believing it could grant them immortality. However, they attempt to kill each other to test the theory and retrieve the treasure they think is in the basement's locked vault. This culminates in Carrigan attempting to run Dibs over with her Range Rover, only to instead crash into a cliff-side tree. Upon exiting her car, Carrigan falls to her death and becomes a ghost.

James becomes despondent after the trio pull a prank on him, prompting them to take him out on the town. They plan on killing him to make themselves a quartet but have a change of heart after the drunken therapist declares he will tell Carrigan off so they can stay in their home. However, James accidentally falls to his death down a manhole.

In the laboratory, a furious ghost Carrigan confronts Casper and Kat for stealing what she believes to be the treasure from the vault and launching Dibs out a window when he tries to double-cross her. As Carrigan demands to be brought back to life, Casper and Kat trick Carrigan into saying that she has no unfinished business on Earth, causing her to eject herself into the afterlife. After Carrigan's ghost disintegrates and disappears, the casket she had been holding falls to the floor and the lid opens. The treasure inside is not gold or jewels, but instead Casper's prized baseball, signed by Duke Snider; the map was part of a game Casper played with his father. James, now a ghost, returns with Casper's uncles, and Kat's despair over this prompts Casper to sacrifice his one chance to return to life, restoring James instead.

The Halloween party kicks off upstairs; Amber and Vic's prank is thwarted by the Ghostly Trio, and they flee in terror. Amelia, now an angel, meets with Casper alone in his toy room, crediting him for his bravery and sacrifice, and grants him a Cinderella-type deal that he can have until ten o'clock back as his younger, physical self, allowing him to attend the party and dance with Kat. Amelia meets with James and tells him that she was so content with her family while alive that she has no unfinished business, and encourages him to move on, while explaining that the Ghostly Trio kept their promise to get him a meeting with her. Amelia departs as the clock chimes ten, promising James that they and Kat will be together again one day and, after kissing Kat, Casper transforms back into a ghost, scaring off the guests. Kat nonetheless is impressed with the party, which James says is not over, cueing the Ghostly Trio to play their nephew's theme for them to dance to.

Production:

Producer Steven Spielberg was planning a film adaptation of Casper the Friendly Ghost. He saw an episode of the television series Brooklyn Bridge directed by Brad Silberling and saw potential in this work, recruiting Silberling for directing Casper. Alex Proyas had initially signed on as director, but left due to creative differences with the screenplay. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, he claimed that he was intrigued with doing a children's fantasy, and wanted to do a more dark film, akin to The Wizard of Oz. J. J. Abrams did an uncredited rewrite of the script. The screenplay gave a backstory of Casper being the ghost of Casper McFadden, a boy who died of pneumonia at 12, though some of the comics, particularly in the 1960s, portrayed him as born a ghost to ghost parents.

Extensive use of computer-generated imagery is used to create the ghosts, and it is the first feature film to have a fully CGI character in a leading role. In the mirror scene, Dr. Harvey was also supposed to transform into Spielberg. According to director Silberling, the cameo was filmed, but was cut for pacing reasons. Spielberg was relieved, feeling that he is not much of an actor himself and was quite nervous in front of the camera. Principal photography began on January 27, 1994, and ended on June 8, 1994.

Soundtrack:

The soundtrack was composed by award-winning composer James Horner, who had worked on a number of previous movies for Amblin Entertainment, including An American Tail and The Land Before Time. The track "One Last Wish" would go on to accompany Universal Pictures' "Logos Through Time" Montage, as part of their centennial anniversary. The soundtrack was remastered and reissued as a commemorative twenty-fifth anniversary edition by La-La Land Records on August 4, 2020.

Release/Reception/Box Office:

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 51%, based on 41 reviews, with the site's critical consensus reading, "A meandering, mindless family movie that frequently resorts to special effects and transparent sappiness." On Metacritic the film has a score of 49% based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.

Time Out London described it as "an intimate and likeable film". Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, calling it a "technical achievement, it's impressive, and entertaining. And there is even a little winsome philosophy." Robert Firsching of AllMovie gave the film his above average star rating while praising the film for its visual effects.

The CGI effects, which were considered cutting edge at the time, and the performances of Pullman and Ricci were praised, especially considering that, in the scenes where the Harveys interact with the ghosts, Pullman and Ricci were actually acting either with nothing or with stand-in Marquette's used as animators' references.

Moriarty's performance was criticized, with Variety saying she does "a poor woman's Cruella de Vil". In his 2015 Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin gave the film a "BOMB" rating, objecting to the portrayal of Casper as a deceased child rather than a ghost.

Casper opened at #1 over the Memorial Day weekend, grossing $16.8 million over its first three days from 2,714 theatres, averaging $6,205 per theatre. Over four days it grossed $22.1 million, averaging $8,140 per theatre. It stayed at #1 in its second weekend, grossing another $13.4 million, and boosting its 10-day cue to $38.9 million. It played solidly all through the summer, ending up with a final gross of $100.3 million in North America, and an additional $187.6 million internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $287.9 million, far exceeding its $55 million budget and becoming a commercial success.

My Review:

Great Movie With Various Perspectives. As I grew older & revisit this movie, I see more 'layers' of the movie other than a 'kiddie ghost story'. Dr. Harvey (Bill Pullman, excellent as usual) is having a hard time dealing with the death of his wife, & Kat (Ricci, a great break from the cool-headed Wednesday Adams) is having a hard time adjusting her father's constant move as well as grieving her mother on her own. Then, there is Casper grieving his own death as well as his father's death. And then there is Carrigan's mourning her father... not leaving her all the riches. Then there is Casper's heroic act (go see the movie, it's one of the most touching moment), Dr. Harvey's reunion, etc. Etc. From a child's point of view, it's pure entertainment. From an art lover's point of view, you have to awe at the special effect & sets. From an audience seeking emotional outlet, well, bring in an extra box of kleenex. It's a very touching, warm-hearted, humorous, sweet little movie about a friendly ghost named Casper.

You can enjoy this movie at a variety of levels: as a fun family Halloween classic; as a sweet coming-of-age story; as a touching and profound examination of love, loss and longing … all punctuated by a beautiful and haunting film score. Film critics savaged this film when it was first released, which just goes to show how clueless they can be. Luckily, viewers ignored them and have made this film a treasured childhood favourite — and deservedly so.

I honestly didn’t expect this movie to be as good as it was. Casper has such a good personality, the CGI is fantastic, Casper’s uncles are hilarious, the acting is great, the slapstick is on point, and seeing how Casper has a crush on Kat and eventually becomes something satisfying at the end honestly makes this movie underrated. This is a classic; 8/10.

{'Casper's Lullaby' is the best song on the soundtrack, James Horner did a marvellous job; have a listen while you're reading this is you wish}.