Reposted from Family-Friendly Halloween Movie Countdown | Go to Original Post

“That thing’s flying upside down… That’s impossible! That kind of vehicle *can’t* fly upside down. It’s not supposed to fly at all!”

I watched this with my children last year, and despite the dated effects, they really enjoyed it. When we asked them if they noticed anything different about Tia and Tony, one of them replied that they dressed like they did in “old times”.

Family-Friendliness

• Rating: G
• Minimum Recommended Age: 8 (Nick Jr.: Best For Tweens (10-12), Common Sense Media: Ages 7 and up)
• Quality Rating: 72% (Parent Previews Overall Grade: B, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 6.1, Common Sense Media: 4 stars)
• Recommended By:
  • About.com – Kids Halloween Movies – Options for Tweens
  • Suite101 – Scary and Fun Kids’ Halloween Movies for Families
• Sex/Violence/Profanity:
  Sex: None

  Violence: 1.5/10
  IMDB:
  Tony uses his psychic powers to put a shirt, coat and hat to come to life and attack the Sheriff with a broom.

  After escaping from the police station, the Sheriff tells the townspeople about the children’s powers. He shouts that the children must be witches and that they must be stopped. The Sheriff then says that they have to get together “hunting parties” and someone else asks him for more ammunition.

  The children ride in the motorhome and are chased at high speeds.

  Common Sense Media: 0/10
  Some tense scenes and mildly scary moments.

  Parent Previews: B
  Characters chased by animated outlines of vicious dogs during opening credits. Passing away of foster parents mentioned. Character has flashbacks of people being rescued from drowning. Tow truck crashes into car. Character involved in two altercations with schoolyard bully. Baseball mitt pushed into character’s face. Character punches baseball bat. Numerous barking dogs chase characters. Motorcycle with no driver speeds over cliff. A few characters carry handguns, and an angry mob is armed with rifles. Character attacked by broom-wielding overcoat. Bag of flour hits vehicle’s windshield causing it to crash. Inverted helicopter containing passengers lands on its blades (portrayed in comedic fashion).

  Profanity: At least one mild slang.

• Running Time: 97 minutes
• What does it have to do with Halloween? Nothing, except for the title

Summary

Two mysterious orphan children have extraordinary powers and are chased by a scheming millionaire. But where do these kids really call home?

Watch Out For

Common Sense Media:
Parents need to know that this family-friendly film has some mildy scary/tense scenes that may frighten sensitive or younger kids.

Screencaps courtesy of newsie__nympho

Characters chased by animated outlines of vicious dogs during opening credits

“Dumb pen’s out of ink”

Truck tries to pick a fight

Tia uses her magic powers

Truck tries to pick a fight with Tony

Tony uses his powers to push a mitt into Truck’s face

Tony uses his powers to make the baseball glove fly at Truck

Truck injures his hand when he punches a baseball bat

“I’ll fight you with one hand!”

Tia experiences a premonition

“Tony Malone and his sister, Tia. A couple of weirdos!”

Tia has flashbacks about drowning

“A little filly the size of your sister can get scared.”

Tony uses his power to make a marionette dance

Tony and Tia use their telekinetic powers on Mr. Bolt

Tia keeps having those flashbacks about drowning

“And I don’t like kids!”

“You’re nothing but a conniving pair of undersized land pirates!”

Deranian and his henchman approach

The Longview sherrif grabs Tia and Tony

Tia uses her powers to open the jail cell door

Tia and Tony use their powers to make Tony float

Tony uses his psychic powers to put a shirt and coat and hat to come to life and attack the Sheriff

Tony uses his psychic powers to attack the Sheriff with a broom

“Arm yourselves and divvy up into hunting groups!”

Tia uses telekinetic powers to talk to the bear

The bear keeps Deranian from getting into his car

A posse is after Tia and Tony

Deranian is in hot pursuit after Tia and Tony

The RV flies away

Bolt sees the RV flying next to him

Bolt and the pilot realize they’re the ones flying upside down

The upside down helicopter flies next to the RV

The inverted helicopter containing passengers lands on its blades

The spaceship

Talk About It

Common Sense Media:
Families can talk about the film’s themes of family, and knowing where you really belong in the world.

Parent Previews:
When a schoolyard thug torments Tia, Tony comes to her rescue by using his supernatural gifts. As most children are unlikely to have telekinetic powers, what are some other options for dealing with bullies?

On TV

N/A

Trailer