"CHILLOGY"
Despite not being based on a book or being written by Stine, is it still a good Mini-Series; ON WITH THE REVIEW!
PART 1: SQUEAL OF FORTUNE
Jessica is a greedy girl who wants more and more money, and won't even give her Brother any money to help him pay for their parents' anniversary present. While cleaning the attic, she finds a little model town called "Karlsville", which happens to be a collectible, that of course she plans to sell. However, she gets magically transported into the town, and meets the town Mayor Karl, who wants to help her get rich. Karl gives her a small job to start out with, which is selling his famous lemonade. However, he warns her not to raise the price. Of course, she goes against Karl's rule, and turns into a pig as a result. For an episode not written by R.L. Stine or is based on any of Stine's stories, this one is actually really good. The moral's of greed is executed really well; the idea is creative; and her turning into a pig surprisingly does fit with the episode's moral.
The acting is surprisingly good. It’s not Emmy worthy or anything, but its way better than half of the acting we usually see on the show. The characters while being the usual stereotypes that we see on the show, they’re at least not over the top, or really bland; they actually do feel like feel kids. The girl Jessica is greedy, but she doesn't ham it up like most kids on the show. Really the only over the top thing that’s given to this character is her room basically being an office where she keeps track of her finances, that’s it. The Brother, is not the typical sibling that's annoying or bratty, all he wants to do is get something nice for his parents, that’s it. Even her two friends aren't played out to be as over the top as you expect them to. They have some funny moments, but they don't reach the level of over the top annoyance.
When it comes to being over the top in this episode, it’s really the episode's villain and the town’s people. The villain is really a lot of fun. He's this businessman who's tons of fun to watch, but still manages to be sinister, and even at times comes off as creepy. His performance in this episode is indeed my favorite. As for the town's people, while they are more over the top than they are scary, I think their upbeat and over the top personalities just matches with the insanity of this town. I must say, most of the visuals in the episode are actually really good. The whole opening when we see the town just opens this episode up perfectly with its dark and fording look; and I like the Make-Up for when we Karl as a model once Jessica finds the model town in her Attic, he looks as creepy as False Face from the 60's show of Batman, only creepier. The Make-Up for when Jessica turns into a pig, while not as amazing as the Make-Up in "The Haunted Mask" episodes, it still looks really cool. However, I will admit, the scene when she turns into a pig is easily the worst effect in the episode. It just doesn't look as cool as the scenes of the character's transforming in previous episodes. I also felt like the echoing and the replays of what some of the town's people say as they are buying lemonade felt a little bit forced. The episode also has made up songs to fit with the atmosphere for a few scenes, and in all honesty, I think they fit well, especially the theme for Karl's lemonade.
For being the start of this three part mini-series, it's actually a great start. The acting and characters are good; the set-up is creative; the villain is fun; the effects for the most part are good; and the lesson about greed is told in a very unique way. The first part to the Mini-Series is a good opening; now let’s see how the rest of the series can be just as good as this first act.
RATING 5/5
PART 2: STRIKE THREE...YOU'RE DOOMED
Jessica's friend Matthew wants to be a Baseball player, but he's sadly terrible at playing Baseball, and after losing a game, he shuts himself inside his room in a state of depression. However, after gaining hold of the model town that Jessica threw out, he gets warped inside the town's Baseball field, and must play Baseball for his life. The set-up is just as creative as the last episode, and I really do like the ideas and many obstacles that Matthew has to go through. However, unlike the first part, there really isn't much of a moral; it's just basically a survival story, which I'm fine with it, but it does have its hit and misses (No pun intended).
The acting, while not bad, it doesn't seem to hit the same note as the first part did. The acting in the real world (Mainly in the Baseball sequence) is nearly as over the top as the magical town of "Karlsville"; some the acting seems hokey at times (Though to be fair, the first part had some hokey moments in acting too, but was good enough to make me see passed that); and the kid playing Matthew, while not bad, I do feel a strong restraint in his performance. Now, as I said before, the acting isn't that bad. The kid's reactions to Karlsvilles' version of Baseball are good; the moment with Matthew and his Father is really nice; and the leading characters' acting is still good enough for you to find them likable. So the acting may not be as good as the first part, but at least it didn't reach the point where it becomes bad enough for the characters to be completely annoying or bland.
When we go to the Karlsville Baseball field, there were things that I really loved, but was really disappointed with at the same time. First off, instead of seeing Karl and the town's people that we saw in the first part; we just see Karl playing many different people, as Matthew plays for an invisible audience. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing Karl become all these different people! He may not be as creepy as he was in the first episode, but he's tons of fun to watch. It's like seeing the actor who plays the Wizard and Professor Marvel in "The Wizard Of OZ" play the people that the characters talk to in Emerald City. It's obvious that it's him, but he's so fun to watch, that you don't care, plus adding to the fantasy dreamlike world of OZ. The invisible audience also brings a very fun but very uncomfortable feel to the situation as well. However, since we saw the town's residents in the first part, it seemed pretty lazy that the Producers didn't get a bunch of extras; actors; and half of the people we saw in "Karlsville" in the last part, to appear in this part. The situations that Matthew goes through as I said before are cool ideas and some are done well. Some of the effects are also good too, like the flying monstrous baseball, and the Make-Up on the monsters that Matthew encounters. However, we do get some CGI effects that are so computerized that they don't look cool. Like the flying base and the lava. I also was disappointed that the monsters really don't do much, except toss a ball back and forth to each other; and the jump scare towards the end abused one of the things that I praised earlier.
This part is a fair follow up to the first part, but it could've been better. The acting, while not terrible, could've improved a bit; the villain, as fun as he is at being all these characters, I wish we had at least some extras or at least an actor or two; and while we get some cool effects, we get some really mediocre ones as well. It's not a bad follow up, but I do wish it was done a little bit better than what we got.
RATING 3/5
PART 3: ESCAPE FROM KARLSVILLE
Matthew's brother Todd enters "Karlsville" after getting a letter from "Karlsville" telling him that he won a prize and after being welcomed into "Karlsville", his prize is that he will become a permanent citizen by being turned into plastic. It is now up to Jessica and Matthew to save him and destroy the town for good. This final part has another great set-up like the last two parts and for a series finale it's pretty good.
The acting from the kids has gotten back to the way it was in the first part. Don't get me wrong, it gets hokey here and there, but it is still way better than the acting in the last part, even if the acting wasn't that bad. The villain once again does act creepy on a few occasions, but is mostly a lot of to watch. Even the way he constantly gloats as he's about to turn Todd into plastic is fun to watch. We also have the town extras back, only this time, they're a lot more dead looking, instead of being upbeat and insane. I even love the costumes for the plastic looking people in the room where Todd is going to be turned into plastic. They really do look very unsettling and creepy. In fact, their plastic faces remind me of the mask from "Alice, Sweet Alice". I also really admire the set for the room as well. The effects are really decent as well, and are way better than most of the effects in the last part. If I had one problem with the episode, I always did want to know what the origin of Karl and this town was, but at the same time, it's one of those things that works well within this creative fantasy, horror world, like how "The Twilight Zone" gives us very little information on things, but is executed well enough for us not to care. However, I always did wonder about the episode's solution; and the cliffhanger ending bugged me just as much as the cliffhanger in "The Haunted Mask 2'.
Despite having hokey acting at times, along with a bit of a messy ending, it's still a good finale. It's not incredible, but I was kept on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.
RATING 4/5
OVERALL
So that's "Chillogy" and for being a three part Mini-Series that's not written by R.L. Stine, it's actually pretty good. While the acting at times can be hokey, along with having some horrible effects, and an ending that's a bit disappointing, I still think there is a lot of good stuff that it has to offer. The premise for all three parts are really creative; the characters are likable, and the actors playing them are one of the better kid actors that you would usually see on the show; half of the effects are good in the standards of TV; and the villain is tons of fun to watch while also being creepy here and there. With the exception of a few creepy moments, it's really not that scary, but it's still a really good three part Mini-Series that was made for the show.
RATING 4/5
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