Product Details

• Actors: Debbie Reynolds, Judith Hoag, Kimberly J. Brown, Phillip Van Dyke, Joey Zimmerman
• Directors: Duwayne Dunham, Mary Lambert
• Writers: Ali Marie Matheson, Jon Cooksey, Paul Bernbaum
• Producers: Brian Pogue, Georgene Smith, Peter Lhotka
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Disney
• DVD Release Date: September 13, 2005
• Run Time: 165 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007Z9R5W
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,118 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #4 in	Movies & TV > Television > Made-for-TV Movies > Disney Channel Original Movies
  #16 in	Movies & TV > Kids & Family > Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment > Disney Channel
  #48 in	Movies & TV > Horror > Frighteningly Funny

• For more information about "Halloweentown/ Halloweentown II - Kalabar's Revenge" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In a place called Halloweentown, good and evil look very different than one might expect. Thanks to a visit from Grandmother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds), Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) and her family's tradition of ignoring the Halloween holiday are about to change in the extreme. It seems that Marnie's mother Gwen (Judith Hoag) has been hiding a big secret from her three children--all of them possess supernatural powers. Now that it's Marnie's thirteenth birthday, she must begin her training as a witch or lose her powers forever. While Gwen wants nothing more than to see her children grow up as "normal" humans, Grandmother Aggie and Marnie have other ideas. A brewing crisis between good and evil in the alternate world Halloweentown soon pulls the entire family through a portal and into an intense battle against ghouls, goblins and the warlock Kalabar (Robin Thomas). Halloweentown II takes place two years after Halloweentown and finds Kalabar's son bent on revenge. Marnie has matured as a witch, but her powers are pushed to the limit in a desperate effort to triumph over an evil curse in order to save Halloweentown, her family and the human world. This is good Disney Halloween fun with nice costuming and special effects, a wholesome message about the power of family, cooperation and perseverance, and ghouls that, though creepy looking, aren't likely to inspire nightmares in younger family members. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

Product Description

Join Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) and her grandmother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds) as they stir up a cauldron full of comedy and adventure in two Disney Channel classics -- HALLOWEENTOWN and HALLOWEENTOWN II: KALABAR'S REVENGE. On her 13th birthday, Marnie learns she's a witch, discovers a secret portal, and is transported to Halloweentown -- a magical place where ghosts and ghouls, witches and werewolves live apart from the human world. But she soon finds herself battling wicked warlocks, evil curses, and endless surprises. HALLOWEENTOWN DOUBLE FEATURE will charm pixies, trolls, and families everywhere every day of the year.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Halloweentown is the Greatest, September 13, 2005

By	T. McGuire (Lafayette, IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My daughters and I just love the Halloween season and there's no better movie to watch than this one. We can watch it over and over and never get tired of it. We always say we'd love to live in Halloweentown year round.(Too bad it's not a real town...or is it?) We're so glad it finally came out on DVD so now we can watch it whenever we want and don't have to wait until the one time of year for The Disney Channel to show it. I can't say enough about this movie. If you love Halloween I know you will love this movie too. :)

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT HALLOWEEN MOVIES FOR THE FAMILY, September 15, 2005

By	Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

I love a good family Halloween movie. Something that's not too scary for little ones, but still something absorbing enough for adults. There are actually three of these movies now as the third, "Halloweentown High" came out in 2004 and it's too bad that Disney didn't release all three together.

The basic premise is that there is an alternate world from our own where it is always Halloween called, of course, Halloweentown. Aggie Cromwell (the radiant Debbie Reynolds) is a powerful witch as is her daughter Gwen (Judith Hoag). Aggie wants to train Gwen's daughter Marnie (Kimberly Brown) to use her powers before she loses them when she turns 13. This results in a big argument between Aggy and Gwen. Aggy returns to Halloweentown but Marnie and her two siblings Dylan and Sophie secretly follow her. Once there they learn about a dark force threatening Halloween town and only the combined power of all the Cromwell women, including Mom Gwen can stop it.

In the sequel, virtually the entire Main cast returns as Marnie has now become more proficient with her powers and as we learned at the end of the first film it turns out that the younger siblings also have developing powers of their own. This time their old foe Kalabar is back to wreak havoc and try to turn the people of our normal world into monsters.

The special effects and makeup in these films are above average, especially for made-for-tv films. All of the denizens of Halloween town are monsters of some sort and could be a tad scary for little ones but probably not too much. Kimberly Brown really develops as an actress and holds her own with the veteran Debbie Reynolds. Judith Hoag gets to do a bit more in this sequel as well.

All in all these are pretty good films, good family fun.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some Fun and Friendly Halloween Movies from the Disney Channel, October 21, 2006

By	tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This DVD is a two-for package that includes the first two films of the Halloween Town series that aired on the Disney Channel. These two films kept all the major actors from the first film which helps give the series a bit of continuity.

In HALLOWEENTOWN, Marnie Cromwell (Kimberly J. Brown) is a thirteen-year-old girl who is slightly obsessed with what her friends call, "weird stuff", basically the occult: witches, vampires, werewolves, ancient writings, strange symbols, etc. Her mother, Gwen (Judith Hoag), doesn't approve of Marnie's pastime activities and also doesn't allow any of her children, Marnie, Dylan (Joey Zimmerman), and Sophie (Emily Roeske) to attend Halloween parties or go trick or treating. Dylan thinks it has something to do with the fact that their mother and late father met each other at Halloween and that the holiday has become sensitive for their mother. However, every year Gwen's mother, Aggie (Debbie Reynolds) stops by Gwen's home and brings gifts, candy, and costumes for the children. On her 13th Halloween, Marnie overhears her mother and grandmother discusses that their family is an old and famous witch family (the Cromwells) and that if Marnie doesn't begin practicing and studying before the end of the year, she will loose her powers. Marnie and her siblings follow Aggie back to her home in Halloweentown (a much more colorful place than the town of the same name in A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS) and help her in defeating a mysterious "dark thing" that is trying to rule Halloweentown and destroy humans.

HALLOWEENTOWN II: KALABAR'S REVENGE begins two years after HALLOWEENTOWN ended. Marnie has been practicing her magic under the tutelage of her mother and grandmother for almost two years. Once again it's Halloween, but this time the Cromwell home is alive and grooving with a neighborhood Halloween party. A new neighbor named Kal (Daniel Kountz) shows up and invites Marnie to the high school Halloween dance later that night. Marnie is smitten with Kal and shows him her grandmother's room. While passing out treats, Aggie's never-ending bag is suddenly empty and Aggie takes Marnie back with her to Halloweentown to find out exactly what is going wrong. It turns out the entire town has turned grey and the creatures there are now all dull, boring, and grey humans. The plot thickens and it's up to the powerful Cromwell clan to figure out just how to undo the black magic and set things right.

Neither HALLOWEEN TOWN nor HALLOWEENTOWN II are really that great of movies. However, they're not really terrible either. They are Disney Channel films so they are rather family friendly and tame. Most of the creatures are humorous instead of frightening and the entire Halloweentown world is sort-of tongue-in-cheek. Kids will probably adore these movies and though there aren't a lot of allusions or references for adults, the acting is decent and the lovely Debbie Reynolds as Aggie Cromwell is fun to watch. These films are a good way to get children excited about Halloween and maintain their interest after the two-month commercial build-up for the holiday.