Frighteningly Fun

Rating: 5/10 (4 November 2012)

This cute fish-out-of-water story centers around Jonathan, a human hiker who stumbles upon Hotel Transylvania, a hotel for monsters, vampires, werewolves, and more run by non other than Count Dracula himself. Trouble ensues when old Dracula's daughter, Mavis meets the human Jonathan, a romance that Dracula will do anything to end.
Drawing on the classic set of spooky characters, the writers have a lot of material to work with. What the film becomes is a delightful Halloween romp with a slew of clever characters. The celebrity voice cast do a modest job of bringing these ghouls to life and the writers really play with the notions of these characters that we've all become familiar with. That being said, the film never veers into the hilarity of the animated films at Dreamworks, and, though it attempts at an emotional father/daughter relationship, it doesn't end up with the emotional pull or sheer animation beauty of a Pixar film. However, it is a witty, fun, and ultimately worthwhile trip, especially during the Halloween season, where family films seem to be in the rare.
B-