Official synopsis: What does it mean to live in a place known for Halloween? Set in St. Helens, OR, the filming site of the 1998 Disney Channel movie, Halloweentown, this heartfelt documentary follows the local residents and the impact that the movie has had on their lives and traditions. Steeped in often hilarious communal disagreements and spooky imagery, Spirit of Halloweentown is a colorful love letter to the town’s legacy and dedication to our favorite holiday.
Some people have fond memories of watching the 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie Halloweentown, which was filmed in St. Helens, Oregon. Others, including me, have never seen it. It doesn’t matter which camp you fall in regarding viewing the documentary The Spirit of Halloweentown from codirectors Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb because their film is about how that town’s annual Halloween festivities and how it affects the residents rather than being a documentary about the Disney movie.
The Spirit of Halloweentown has been making the rounds at horror film festivals recently with the town’s focus on attracting tourists for the season, but the documentary is mainly a local-color look at small-town life and how it is affected when around 50,000 visitors flock to St. Helen’s every October. Among the people featured in the documentary are a restaurateur who has moved in from Portland and gets into a viral flap over a bad review, providing outsider vs. locals drama; a strongly religious woman whose one-person crusade on the evils of Halloween seem to be played for laughs as much as sympathy; other residents to whom the festivities mean needed emotional support; and a group of paranormal investigators holding a seance and hunting for ghosts.
Viewers expecting a behind-the-scenes look at Halloweentown will be disappointed. Those whose favorite holiday of the year is Halloween will likely find much to enjoy here, though the travel documentary aspects may bog things down a bit for them. For anyone interested in a breezy slice-of-life small-town Americana documentary, The Spirit of Halloweentown should fit the bill.
The Spirit of Halloweentown screened as part of Overlook Film Festival, which took place April 3–6 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
