Hubie Halloween (2020)

Don't change, Adam Sandler. Don't change. (Photo courtesy of imdb.com)
 

If you check out the wiki page for Happy Madison Productions, you'll discover a whole list of gems. Some of them might not be great, but gems they are nonetheless, and Hubie Halloween is definitely a Halloween gem in our books. 

Hubie Halloween dropped worldwide on Netflix last Oct 7th, and is written and produced by Adam Sandler. It couldn't have dropped at a better time, because we've been waiting for another Happy Madison Production and, well, we got our wish, and a horror comedy no less. 

Hubie Halloween tells the story of Hubie Dubois, a socially awkward, but kind hearted resident of Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, as everyone knows, was the site of the infamous Salem Witch Trials and set the tone for its rich history which in turn instilled in the townspeople a strong devotion to the festive season of Halloween. 

Hubie isn't well liked in the town because of his socially awkward but kind hearted nature and is constantly made fun of and targeted with not-so-subtle pranks. This becomes a theme in the movie whereby Hubie is incapable of riding down the street on his bicycle without being heckled or having things thrown at him. 

The movie focuses on three plot lines; an escaped mental patient, a mysterious neighbor and the disappearance of townsfolk, mostly those who have been mean to Hubie. 

Literally chased down the street (Photo courtesy of indiewire.com)

You can expect the usual things from a Happy Madison Production film. The typical cast of characters like Rob Schneider, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi and Maya Rudolph make an appearance as well as Adam Sandler's real life wife Jackie Sandler. A few new additions to the cast include Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Kenan Thompson, June Squibb and Shaquille O'Neal. They played their parts well and have such a good chemistry with one another that we assumed Sandler chooses them to constantly act in his movies because, well, they know each other so well, that the comedic timing is impeccable. 

There are additional recurring themes that delight us in this movie like Hubie's Swiss Army thermos that always has an extension to get him out of hairy situations, the inanimate items that get thrown at him whenever he rides his bicycle down the road as well as the montages of Hubie being pranked and scared in different situations. 

But this movie was designed to be a fun-filled family movie without any excessive sexual references, the typical Adam Sandler brand of comedy and the not-so-over-the-top scares. The only thing we wished this movie had were real ghosts or monsters. 


Yes, Adam, we too are disappointed that there aren't more of your movies made each year. (Photo courtesy of indiewire.com)

However, the end twist was quite refreshing and the life lesson was welcome in today's trend of bullying. We just wish that this movie was longer and had real monsters instead of the usual trope of, "people are the real monsters". All in all, this movie is simply an enjoyable family movie and we can't wait for more Happy Madison Production films in the future. 

Asian Does Horror gives Hubie Halloween three ghost emojis out of five. 👻👻👻


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