New Releases Capture the Spirit of Halloween

Video

Casper Meets Wendy. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 90 minutes, $19.98. Notably better than the second “Casper” movie, this third live-action/computer-animated fantasy about the friendly little ghost stars Shelley Duvall, Cathy Moriarty and Teri Garr as a trio of raucous witches, George Hamilton as an evil warlock and delightful, bright-eyed Hilary Duff as Wendy, the good little witch.

Warlock Desmond, fearing Wendy’s magic, and his “Men in Black”-type goons (Richard Moll and Vincent Schiavelli) stalk her, sending the witches into hiding at a resort hotel, where Wendy and Casper discover they have loneliness and dysfunctional families in common.

Ghosts and witches aren’t supposed to be friends, so the new pals’ relatives clash; meanwhile, “fleshies” are fair game for mischief from both sides. The humor and sweetness are unexpected, despite a few obligatory gross-out scenes: As usual, Casper’s Uncle Stinky lives up to his name.

Addams Family Reunion. Warner Home Video, 92 minutes, $19.96, rated PG. With Tim Curry as Gomez, Daryl Hannah as Morticia, Carel Struycken reprising his role as Lurch and other notable character actors, this new comedy based on Charles Addams’ macabre cartoons has the right look. The execution is lamentably forced, however, as the ghoulish Addams family mistakenly attends an Adams family reunion. Genuine humor is fleeting; many more moments like Morticia’s off-the-menu dinner order--”I’ll have the blood-sucking sycophants”--might have made it worthwhile.

Barney’s Halloween Party. Lyrick Studios, $14.95, 50 minutes, ages 1 through 8, (800) 862-2763. Not surprisingly, the big purple dinosaur and his kid entourage offer mushy, mild, colorful and song-filled fun. Elaborate, eye-pleasing sets and fun Halloween crafts round it out.

NOTE: Bear in the Big Blue House, Volumes 1 and 2, reviewed in last week’s column, are Columbia TriStar Home Video releases.