Casper

10/3/20251h 40m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ Seeing is believing. ~

Overview:

Casper is a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat. Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.

Director:

Brad Silberling

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$50,000,000.00

Revenue:

$287,928,194.00

Key words:

friendship
afterlife
supernatural
halloween
bullying
treasure hunt
based on comic
friends
teenage girl
ghost hunting
super power
psychiatry
ghost
disorder
young heroes
imaginary
mischievous children
ghost child
mischief
unfinished business
hilarious

Cast

Christina Ricci

~ as ~

Kat

Bill Pullman

~ as ~

Dr. James Harvey

Cathy Moriarty

~ as ~

Carrigan

Eric Idle

~ as ~

Dibs

Malachi Pearson

~ as ~

Casper (voice)

Joe Alaskey

~ as ~

Stinkie (voice)

Joe Nipote

~ as ~

Stretch (voice)

Brad Garrett

~ as ~

Fatso (voice)

Devon Sawa

~ as ~

Casper on Screen

Chauncey Leopardi

~ as ~

Nicky

View full cast & crew

Reviews (3)

Wuchak
Written 7 year(s) ago
6
Fun, silly ghost flick with Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci and Cathy Moriarty

A ghost-whispering paranormal expert and his daughter (Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci) move into a dilapidated mansion on the coast of Maine that’s haunted by a friendly ghost and three mischievous ones. Cathy Moriarty plays the venal heir of the mansion and Eric Idle her assistant.

“Casper” (1995) delivers the goods if you're in the mood for a "spooktacular" Goosebumps-like horror film that's fun & silly and not scary at all. It's like Scooby-Doo but without the dog and the teens are tweens. “Monster Night” (2006) and “Ghostbusters” (1984) are other reference points, but I prefer “Monster Night,” which has a similar plot, but is all-around more entertaining (even though it cost significantly less) and has a superior assortment of good-lookin' women, young and older. With “Caspar” there’s Moriarty, but she plays the biyatch antagonist. There’s also ricci, but she was only 14 during shooting, although she’s effective in the role.

The movie runs 1 hour, 40 minutes and was shot at Universals City, California, with establishing shots of Rockport, Maine.

GRADE: B-/C+
r96sk
Written 3 year(s) ago
7
I remembered so much of this, and yet absolutely nothing of the plot.

’Casper’ is a film I must’ve watched so much as a young kid on video, the opening few scenes are very nostalgic. As noted though, I didn’t recall anything serious from this 1995 flick though. It’s a little deeper than I remember, with some adult themes touched on - the concluding scenes stand out in that regard.

I did remember the cast, however. Malachi Pearson is perfect as the voice of the titular character, while Christina Ricci is good in the lead live-action role. Bill Pullman spearheads the rest of the onscreen talent well. One casting note: A young Devon Sawa has a part, I recently watched him in television’s ’Chucky’ - which I’d recommend, fwiw. Another: Clint Eastwood makes a small cameo, as does a certain ghost hunter.

Just the checks notes four follow-ups have spawned from this release. Off we go...
CinemaSerf
Written 2 month(s) ago
7
Kids in Scotland of a certain age might just remember Glen Michael’s “Cavalcade”. This was a television programme on a Sunday afternoon that featured cartoons and one of the most popular of those was “Casper”, the friendly ghost. It was probably more popular because there were hardly ever any available and so when they were announced, it was always exciting. It’s against that sentimental backdrop that I really quite enjoyed this Spielberg action adventure film. It all starts when “Carrigan” (Cathy Moriarty) inherits a decrepit manor house in which she believes there to be a secret fortune. When she arrives she discovers it already has an occupant, and she has to get rid of him first. How, though? Well she even tries the “Ghostbusters”, but to no avail. Eventually, she and her hapless aide “Dibs” (Eric Idle) alight on the widowed spectral scientist “Dr. Harvey” (Bill Pullman), who arrives at the house with his daughter “Kat” (Christina Ricci). Quickly getting used to their house-sharers, what now ensues sees a series of mischievous adventures with our apparition and the young “Kat” as they try to thwart the treasure seeking owner and maybe even settle some old scores, too. If I do have a complaint, well it’s probably that there just isn’t enough “Casper” in his own movie. His three tormenting sidekicks take up a bit too much of the screen time, and at times it does veer a little close to becoming “Carry on Casper”. That said, though, Ricci delivers quite engagingly and Pullman provides a steady, if unremarkable, effort as the resident and bereft adult. The visual effects are quite good fun and the denouement (before it goes altogether too cheesy) has shades of “Frankenstein” to it. It’s more in the vein of “Scooby Do” than “The Conjuring”, but there’s some comedy from the script and I found it flew by.