The Scary Fun Keeps Coming In The Haunting Hour Volume Five

Courtesy: Shout! Factory/The Hub Network

The fifth volume in author R.L. Stine’s spine tingling series, The Haunting Hour is another spine tingling compilation that is just as much scary fun for kids as it is for adults.  Right from the outset of each episode, parents will be smiling thanks to a small but important addition.  That addition is a disclaimer about just how scary each episode can potentially be depending on a viewer’s age.  From there, kids and parents will enjoy watching all four episodes included in this compilation (one of the episodes is split into two parts) because of how scary they are.  As an added bonus, parents will appreciate the episodes because of the lessons that are taught in such subtle fashion.  All said and done, The Haunting Hour Volume Five is one more wonderful and wonderfully scary addition to any young horror fan’s collection.

Ever since its inception years ago, the ratings system used for television shows has come under a lot of fire.  It has come under fire because of its inconsistencies and ambiguous nature.  So the inclusion of a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode is an important addition to the compilation.  The disclaimer spells out in no uncertain terms that some of the included episodes may be too scary for some younger viewers.  And rather than just using the standard “parents discretion is advised” line, the people behind the show took another road in telling parents and children that they should watch the show together.  Believe it or not, this is HUGE.  It’s saying without saying that parents need to be more involved with their children and be parents.  It’s saying that parents need to see what their kids are watching so that they can make a responsible decision on what they think their children should or shouldn’t watch.  All parties involved in making this happen are to be highly commended for this subtle yet at the same time blatant statement.

Having been told that they should watch the show with their children, parents and children will both appreciate the scares and chills offered in each episode.  Even parents will have to admit that even in Volume Five, there are some scary stories, starting with the two-part episode, “Scary Mary.”  This episode sees young Hanna (Eva Allen) and her friends learning the dangers of peer pressure.  It all starts when she and her friends decide to play what they think is a harmless paranormal based game called “Scary Mary.”  It just so happens that the game is just like a certain paranormal game that some people try to play in real life, which is just as dangerous and should not be attempted.  It also plays on a very real belief about the paranormal linked to mirrors and spirits.  Anyone with any understanding of the paranormal will appreciate that inclusion.    The set’s second episode, “Swarmin’ Norman” teaches another valuable lesson to young viewers.  It teaches the lesson that revenge is a dish best served cold.  On top of that it teaches about the dangers of getting power hungry.  It offers both through the story of a young boy named Norman (Bobby Coleman) who learns that he can control insects after being bullied one time too many.  He had great power.  But he didn’t use it responsibly.  The result was quite deadly to say the least.  These episodes are just a couple of examples of why parents will love to use The Haunting Hour Volume Five this Halloween for their children’s Halloween parties.  Of course, there is still another reason that this set is such a scary joy.  That reason is the guest spots.

The people behind The Haunting Hour have made a tradition of including young well-known guest stars to help drive the show’s popularity.  The episodes culled for Volume Five are no different.  This time out, Frankie Jonas (Jonas L.A.), Liam James (The Killing), Dakota Goyo (Real Steel), and Jean-Luc Bilodeau (Kyle XY) make appearances.  Goyo stars as a young boy named Josh on a flight sharing a seat with a ghost that only he can see.  The problem is that the ghost in question is trying to get away from the Grim Reaper, who is also on board the flight.  Liam James and Frankie Jonas share the screen in the set’s closing episode, “Pumpkinhead.”  And Jean-Luc Biloddeau guests in the set’s opening episode.  This continued inclusion of younger stars will definitely help to bring in younger viewers.  And together with the aforementioned factors, the total presentation that is The Haunting Hour Volume Five turns out to be another welcome addition to any young horror lover’s home collection.  It is available now in stores and online.  It can be ordered direct online from Shout! Factory’s online store at http://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217796.  More information on this and other releases from Shout! Factory and Hub Network is available online at http:/www.shoutfactory.com, http://www.facebook.com/shoutfactoryofficial, and http://www.hubworld.com.  To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

Parents and Kids Will get Revved Up With The Latest Chuck and Friends Compilation

Courtesy: Shout! Kids/Shout! Factory/Hasbro/The Hub

Chuck, Soku, Digger, and the rest of his friends are back once again with a whole new collection of family friendly episodes from The Hub’s The Adventures of Chuck & Friends. 

The Adventures of Chuck & Friends: Bumpers Up is the fourth release from the hit children’s cartoon on The Hub.  It will be available next Tuesday, August 13^th.  As with the previous DVD releases, this compilation of episodes offers parents and children ten more episodes full of family friendly fun and important life lessons.  The writers behind the show are to be commended once again as neither the lessons nor the general entertainment steps on the other.  This is just one of the positives to this new set.  Viewers will also enjoy the fun musical numbers in each episode.  And speaking of the musical numbers, Bumpers Up includes its own sing-a-long feature as a bonus element.  The bonus sing-a-long on this DVD from Shout! Kids includes the words to the song that kids can read while they sing.  This is actually a double whammy in the best possible way.  And while most audiences don’t take it into account, even the bright colors used in each episode play their own part in the overall enjoyment of these episodes.  All combined, they make for one more collection that parents and kids will enjoy every time that they pop it in their DVD or Blu-ray player.

The episodes included in this collection are just as enjoyable for parents and children as the show’s previous trio of releases.  That is thanks in large part to the show’s writers.  The storylines and life lessons included in each episode are very well balanced thanks to the show’s writers.  Neither element steps on top of the other even once.  Audiences can take their pick of episodes in this set.  Each episode serves as a wonderful example of exactly that.  A random example of this balance is in the set’s first episode, “Choosy Chuck.”  Chuck’s parents are going to take him to the truck history museum.  There’s just one problem with this.  They have an extra ticket, which they give to Chuck to use with one of his friends.  The result is that Chuck has to make a very difficult decision.  Of course, it ends with a happy ending.  Again, the general storyline and the important life lesson perfectly balance out.  What’s more, it’s enjoyable because it is so relatable.  Scenarios such as that presented here do in fact happen in real life.  So it becomes an even more valuable addition to this compilation.  “Choosy Chuck” teaches young viewers a very deep lesson in a very simplistic way, thanks to the show’s writers.  The even deeper lesson taught here is of personal sacrifice.  Even adults have to make the choice at times of personal sacrifice.  To that end, it becomes an even more invaluable addition to this new compilation.  Even adults can take something away from it (and the other included episodes).

Just as important an inclusion to “Bumpers Up” is the episode, Soku-Kun.  As with “Choosy Chuck”, this episode also teaches viewers of all ages some very important lessons. It teaches the lessons of acceptance, tolerance, and understanding.  These are lessons that adults need just as much as children, as is evidenced every evening on the nightly news.  The writers are to be commended just as much for this episode as for “Choosy Chuck” and the other episodes included here.  It’s through this lesson that Chuck’s friend Soku learns that just because someone is from another country and different culture, it doesn’t make them any less than anyone else.  He learns this lesson when his cousin from Japan comes to visit.  His cousin can’t speak English though.  The resultant language barrier causes Soku to resent his cousin.  That is until Chuck and the others help Soku understand his cousin more easily.  The end result is a happy ending, and a lesson that is just as valuable as any other in life and in this set.

The episodes noted here are merely a sample of what “Bumpers Up” offers for children and their parents.  Along with the family friendly writing, viewers also get plenty of family friendly musical numbers too.  The musical numbers go hand-in-hand so to speak with the lessons of each episode.  They help to drive home each lesson on the surface.  On a slightly deeper level, they’ll also have kids dancing and singing along as they clap their hands.  Staying on the matter of the songs, included as a bonus feature in this compilation is a brand new sing-a-long for kids.  The sing-a-long lets kids sing along karaoke style, as the song’s lyrics are included at the bottom of the screen.  What’s more, the song in question brings the entire compilation full circle.  It brings the compilation full circle as it teaches a lesson about the importance and value of teamwork all while rocking out.  And on an even deeper level, the included lyrics could also serve as an aid in teaching young viewers to read.  So not only does it serve two purposes, but in fact three.  This three-way attack of sorts makes the overall presentation over the top and that much more worth picking up or ordering when it becomes available on Tuesday, August 20^th.  It can be ordered online direct from Shout! Factory’s online store at http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/217614.  Parents and kids can keep up with all of the latest family friendly releases on the Shout! Factory website at http://www.shoutfactory.com and http://www.facebook.com/shoutfactoryofficial.    

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The Haunting Hour’s First Season Closes With Two More Scary Sets Of Stories

Courtesy: Shout! Factory/The Hub

R.L. Stine and The Hub are back with two more volumes of seriously scary stories for kids and their parents.  The Haunting Hour Vol. 3 & 4 offer audiences ten more tales of terror that will entertain and scare audiences every time they turn them on.  This latest pair of volumes offers not only five great episodes each, but some star power, too.  The Haunting Hour Vol. 3 boats guest appearances from the likes of Robert Capron (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Maddison Pettis (Cory in the House), Christopher Heyerdahl (Hell on Wheels, Sanctuary), and others.  Apparently, Heyerdahl has a thing for playing villains, much like Tim Curry, as he takes on the role of quite the scary character in the episode, ‘Fear Never Knocks.’  Heyerdahl’s character is absolutely creepy in his role in this episode, terrorizing a pair of children who stumble upon their grandfather’s “box of fear.”  He is released when young Jenny decides to play with the box, and releases both her fears and those of her brother and fear itself (played by Heyerdahl).  Also in Volume Three, Maddison Pettis is one of three kids that get caught up in a supernatural story that brings the past and present together thanks to a mysterious mask.  The mask shows events that happened in the past, which themselves lead to another mystery that will leave viewers guessing right up to the end of the story.  And in another of the set’s best episodes, Robert Capron plays a young man whose overactive apetite leads him to get much more than he hoped for after a strange ice cream truck starts making rounds through the boy’s neighborhood.  This is an episode that will send “chills” (ba-dump-bump-bump) through every viewer, and will make them think twice next time they see an ice cream truck come through their neighborhood.  What’s more, it’s a valuable warning against over eating, too, ironically enough.  It’s little things like this, and the writing for the other noted episodes that make The Haunting Hour Volume Three another nice inclusion for any fan of ghost stories and of R.L. Stine’s work.

Courtesy: Shout! Factory/The Hub

The scares don’t stop with Volume Three of The Haunting Hour.  Fans will also enjoy Volume Four, which was released alongside Volume Three.  The show’s fourth volume offers even more scares, as well as guest appearances.  It all opens with another episode that’s just as much a warning as it is a scary story in ‘Wrong Number.’  Debby Ryan (The Suite Life on Deck, Radio Rebel) stars in this episode as Steffani.  Steffani is a rather spoiled young woman that is the very stereotype of the stuck up “mean girl.”  But she gets what’s coming to her when she and her friend decide to prank call an elderly woman one night.  The consequences of her actions turn out to be deadly, as a matter of fact.  This is just one of the many scary stories presented in The Haunting Hour Volume Four.  Another equally terrifying tale included in this set is the episode, ‘Lights Out.’  Super 8 star Gabriel Basso stars as Teddy, a young teen skeptic who is pulled into a ghost hunt after watching a ghost hunt show on TV.  Teddy’s friends set out to prove to him that ghosts are in fact real in their hunt for the supernatural.  He learns that lesson in a way he never would have expected, nor will viewers who have never seen this episode.  The twist ending will scare audiences to no end and leave them talking.  As with Volume Three, what is presented here is just part of what makes Volume Four so enthralling.  The stories presented in these two volumes are sure to scare and entertain both kids and adults alike.

The Haunting Hour recently wrapped its third season on The Hub network.  Allegedly, a fourth season might be in production.  That gives ample time for both seasons Two and Three to be released to DVD while fans await the show’s return to The Hub.  Until then though, these last two volumes of Season One will keep audiences coming back again and again.  All four volumes are available in stores and online and can be ordered online direct at http://www.shoutfactorystore.com. 

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New Chuck & Friends DVD Offers More Entertainment, Life Lessons For The Whole Family

Courtesy: Shout! Factory/Shout! Kids/Hasbro/The Hub

Chuck, the adventurous young dump truck is back once again.  And he’s brought all of his friends along for the “ride” in an all new collection of adventures from Shout! Kids, Hasbro, and The Hub.  The brand new collection, titled, When Trucks Fly takes viewers on ten more fun-filled adventures that also teach some very valuable lessons.  The Adventures of Chuck & Friends is just as enjoyable for kids and parents as the series’ previous release, Monster Rally.  The episodes are short enough to keep younger viewers’ attention.  And the bright, vivid colors do their own part in keeping kids engaged.  The adventures themselves will entertain kids.  And the life lessons tied into all ten episodes are equally important.

One of the best episodes included in this latest collection involves a motorcycle named Sam Steering who is blind.  Through the use of his friend, Sidecar, he is able to get around easier.  But he’s not entirely helpless.  As a matter of fact, he even helps keep Chuck’s dad from slipping in some oil early on because he could smell the oil.  Sam is a very helpful character to younger viewers in that he teaches kids that just because he’s different in not being able to see, he’s no different from anyone else.  In understanding this, Chuck and his friends learn to use their senses to locate the parts and toy race car for a race track they want to put together.  In a way, this teaches a very basic level of biology that will perhaps be the building block of getting kids interested in science.  All of the lessons are tied seamlessly together to make an episode that is one of the best in this collection.

When Trucks Fly offers lots of great lessons for kids in every episode as already noted.  Parents will especially appreciate this collection because at least two of the episodes included in this collection teach a lesson of cleanliness.  Both “Mystery He Rode” (yes that’s a spoof of Mystery She Wrote) and “Super Sweeper Chuck” teach kids the importance of keeping things clean and neat.  “Super Sweeper Chuck” teaches this lesson more directly than “Mystery He Rode.”  When Chuck and his friends decide to go off and play a game without cleaning up after themselves, Rowdy is the only one who stays behind to clean.  When Chuck’s dad comes along and sees this, he goes to get the others and bring them back.  The others see the mess that they left and that Rowdy had stayed behind.  They feel bad for having left such a mess and help clean up their mess.  The musical montage included here will get kids engaged even more.

By comparison, “Mystery He Rode” teaches the lesson cleanliness in a more subtle manner as Chuck and his friends look for Rowdy’s missing horn.  Chuck’s mom emphasizes to the boys that they need to put everything back once they’re done as they search for his horn.  It’s good to see this lesson incorporated into this episode, too.  Even more worthwhile in “Mystery He Rode” isn’t so much that lesson as the lesson of not falsely accusing others without proof.  One of the boys is falsely accused of having taken Rowdy’s missing horn at one point.  But thanks to Chuck pointing out one vital piece of evidence, his name is cleared, and the true location of Rowdy’s horn is revealed.  This is yet another important life lesson that parents will appreciate having been taught.  And kids will easily grasp it too.

Just as important as the lessons on cleanliness and accepting people’s differences, parents will appreciate the lessons of teamwork and honor in the episode, “Keep on Trackin’.”  Chuck and his friends are Junior Spark Plug Scouts in this episode.  During a scavenger hunt of sorts, Chuck and the others learn both of these lessons.  Chuck and Flip end up competing with each other instead of with one another.  They realize in the end that they hadn’t lived up to the teamwork or honor.  But in realizing this, they both earn their honor badges because of their honesty and decision to make up and work together from then on.  Yet again, parents and kids alike have one more important life lesson that even adults could learn from believe it or not.  It’s just one more part of the whole that kids and kids at heart will enjoy with every watch.  The Adventures of Chuck and Friends: When Trucks Fly will be available in stores and online on Tuesday, February 19^th.  It can be ordered online direct from the Shout! Factory store at http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/216660.

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