HallowScream - Casper Meets Wendy (1998)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Casper Meets Wendy, directed by Sean McNamara, was the second direct-to-video Casper movie from Fox Home Entertainment and Saban Entertainment. This movie stars Cathy Moriarty, Shelley Duvall, Teri Garr, Richard Moll. Vincent Schiavelli, Blake Foster, Pauly Shore, George Hamilton and Hilary Duff, with the vocal talents of Jeremy Foley, Jim Ward, Jess Harnell, and Bill Farmer. 

       The movie opens at a baseball game in Deedstown, and the Ghostly Trio of Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie show up and wreak havoc on the townsfolk in attendance at the game. After this, the three, along with their nephew Casper, decide to take a vacation at a resort. Meanwhile, we meet a warlock named Desmond Spellman, who confers with the Oracle, where it's revealed that a young witch named Wendy is destined to be the greatest magic wielder in the world. To cement his position at the top, Desmond plans to banish Wendy into the Mystic Abyss. Desmond then cooks up a potion that creates two thugs, Jules and Vincent, and he sends them to collect Wendy, who lives in a dilapidated house with her three aunts: Gert, Gabby, and Fanny. Luckily, the four witches escape, and make their way to the same resort Casper and the Ghostly Trio went to. And, to lay low, the four agree to no powerful magic use. 

       It's here where Wendy catches the eye of a boy named Josh, but she has no interest in him. However, Wendy does meet, befriend, and grow close to Casper. However, Casper's uncles warn him of the danger of witches, and what their magic can do to ghosts. However, Casper and Wendy make a plan to convince the two Trios to get along, and it involves a dance party. Casper tricks the Ghostly Trio into possessing three men that look like them, and Wendy gets her aunts to go as well. And, Wendy's aunts seem to really hit it off with the Trio, while Casper and Wendy have their own dance. Aww. 

      But, all the fun must end, as the guys the Trio were possessing start fighting back, and the Trio are expelled from them. And, the two Trios walk away, realizing the danger the other poses. Alone, Wendy reveals to Casper that she and her aunts can't use high-level magic because they are hiding from Desmond, and if he catches them, he'll send Wendy into the Mystic Abyss, and makes Casper promise not to say anything. But, when Stretch accosts him about why he's so protective over the witches, he spills the beans, and the Trio head off to scare the daylights out of them. Using a powerful spell, Wendy encases the Trio in plaster, but this triggers Desmond's tracking system. 

      So, Desmond, along with Jules and Vincent, arrive at the resort, and Casper does what he can, even scaring Josh and his buddy off to reclaim Wendy's wand. Unfortunately, Wendy is sent into the Mystic Abyss, and Casper goes to rescue her. The witches try to help, and the Trio scares Desmond into falling into the Abyss himself. Luckily, Wendy and Casper are pulled out safely, and the Oracle reveals why Wendy is the greatest magic wielder: she was the first witch to ever befriend a ghost. All ends well, with Wendy and her aunts returning home, and the same goes for Casper and the Ghostly Trio. 

       Casper Meets Wendy, while slightly better than Casper: A Spirited Beginning, is still far from a great movie. The plot was a mess, the humor was clearly more for kids, and the visual effects were not all that. But, the cast was pretty good, with the trio of Cathy Moriarty, Shelley Duvall, and Teri Garr as the three witches, the legendary George Hamilton as Desmond Spellman, and Hilary Duff making her acting debut as Wendy. Unless you're a Casper fan, I don't think this is one worth checking out. But, it was cool to finally see Casper the Ghost on screen with Wendy the Witch. 

     Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and HallowScream continues next with the musical film The Phantom of the Opera.