I am quite funny when it comes to the children and “TV”… for some reason I am completely different when it comes to “Movies”. I love them watching a good movie and the experience we get out of watching it together. So, I am always on the look out for movies that are suitable for my 5yrs old and 3yrs old. Which is not an easy task! So many movies are made for adult viewers too, that there are often “scary” or “distressing” bits that we wouldn’t even notice. We recently watched Tinkerbell (check out the Tinkerbell review) and loved it. And now.. at the opposite end of the scale we have Hotel Transylvania.
I was a bit worried about the film – especially as it is all about monsters and vampires. I (!) really wanted to see it. So selfishly I decided to go for it with the kids. And we all LOVED IT!!
Film Details:
- PG
- 90minutes
- Comedy & Romance
- Actors: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez
- Sony Pictures
Synopsis: Dracula is left bring up his little girl all by himself. To protect her from the vampire and monster hating humans, he builds a haunted castle and forest that no man dares to enter. He does everything in his power to keep is daughter away from the humans. It is all going well until one day a hapless, but lovable “dude” stumbles into the hotel.
A story of romance and acceptance with a lot of funny monster bits and pieces thrown in.
At first, my reasonably sheltered kids (5yrs and 3yrs) didn’t quite get it. They were not sure whether they were supposed to be scared or not. And did sit there with some worried faces and exclamations of “huh, that turned into a bat!”. This went on for about the first 10-15minutes. Enter a likable “human” and the kids suddenly “clicked” and eased into the film.
Overall, I have to say we all LOVED it. The characters were funny and likable. Lots of quirky bits and pieces. The story it self is simple. Boy meets girl. Father protects girl. Erroneously sends boy away. Heartbroken girl.. etc. But true love wins.
If you have sensitive children and can bear to get through the first 15min until the penny drops, then this is a delightful film. It shows that “monsters are scared of us” (similar to Monsters Inc) and makes for a great film to de-scarify monsters (if there is such a word). I am pretty certain my kids will NOT be having nightmares after this.
Watch the trailer:
Overall ratings:
Would my husband have enjoyed it? Yes, I think he would. This makes a great family movie.
Did the kids enjoy it? Absolutely. A sweet story line and a great way to make “scary” creatures no longer scary.
Likeability of characters – 9/ 10 (Love them all)
General story line – 8/10 (a bit cheesy – story itself not too complicated an easy to follow – filled with lots of monster humour)
The Ending – 9/10 (happy lovely – of course)
Thumbs up.
(Oh and if you are interested, check out this current “Monster Me” competition – you could win your very own scooter!)
Sounds like a perfect family film, I’m sure my older kid will love it.
Oooh, I quite like the sound of this one. Sounds cute
Thanks for sharing this. It really is difficult to find films that are suitable for very young children so I will keep a mental note of this one for when my little man is a bit older. Glad you enjoyed it.
ooh looks good!! P’haps a half term treat
I haven’t had the pleasure buy my daughter and her dad went to see this and they loved it. She’s not quite 5 and she wasn’t scared at all.
I have been thinking about it – and I think the reason that the movie works so well, is because they managed to get Dracula totally write – he is very “endearing” – the protective Daddy with a super warm heart!
That looks great. Monsters that kids can overcome and deal with are always good
Definitely!! All rather nice monsters!!