a review of 魔法嘉年华

HOOPTOBER XII NIGHT TWENTY-FIVE: An interesting oddity from Disney/Buena Vista's late '70s/early '80s live-action period, when the studio would regularly take a chance on some downbeat/atmospheric historical and genre fare. Succeeds in capturing the feel of Ray Bradbury's novel (thanks in part to the script being adapted by Bradbury himself), with strong performances by Robards and Pryce, along with a whole string of recognizable classic character actors. The kid performances are actually pretty tolerable for the time, and the effects work still holds up for the most part. That said, the movie manages to seem somewhat leisurely even with its short 95-minute runtime, and even after the boys and Robards discover the awful truth about the carnival there's not a lot of tension or urgency about putting an end to it. I would have also liked to see the villains get fleshed out just a little bit more, but all in all I had a good time revisiting this one.