Nightbooks (2021)

Directed by David Yarovesky. Starring Winslow Fegley, Lidya Jewett, Krysten Ritter, Jess Brown. [TV-PG]

After foolishly entering a magical apartment, young Alex (Fegley) is taken prisoner by a witch (Ritter) where she forces him to write her a scary story everyday or else she’ll kill him. Kiddie “gateway horror” pic will be too familiar and noisily chaotic for older viewers, while younger ones will probably be wishing that the narrative was more engaging and there were more legitimate “soft scares” in store for them (and with such scant comic relief, did the filmmakers really think that a cat poop gag belonged here?). Some of the visuals found in Alex’s stories are fun, and the performances are decent for this type. References to older films both intentional (The Lost Boys’ quasi-theme song, “Cry Little Sister,” is played on more than one occasion) and otherwise (Fegley’s resemblance to the bespectacled young hero of a different kid-friendly fantasy: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) are abundant, but they’re too subdued to serve a nostalgic purpose. Based on a same-named children’s book by J. A. White. Sam Raimi co-produced.

46/100