Dir. Bradford Thomason & Brett Whitcomb (2024)
A documentary about the town where the Disney original Halloweentown was filmed, which has dedicated itself to celebrating the holiday.
The town of St. Helens, Oregon has two claims to fame: the broom handle factory, long since closed down after the glory years of the lumber industry, and being the filming location for the Disney Channel original movie Halloweentown. It has leaned into the latter, transforming the quiet little hamlet into a Halloween extravaganza every October to celebrate the town's appearance in the movie and the holiday itself. Documentary filmmakers Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb, the minds behind GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and Butterfly in the Sky (a documentary about Reading Rainbow, which just went immediately to the top of my watchlist), have made this doc about the town and its residents in a glorious celebration of small-town Halloween spirit.
The story of the town is interesting enough in itself. Most of the residents have bought in completely, and the city is a hotspot of psychics, paranormal investigators, and thematically relevant businesses. Some, however, aren't particularly excited about the town's Spooky Season makeover. The added burden of thousands of tourists have stressed out many of the business owners, including a particularly ornery tavern owner who went viral for his snippy response to an online reviewer (more on that in a minute). Another resident, who is clearly insane, is convinced that one of the local owners is a warlock who astral projects into her dreams. Thankfully, she's protected by God himself, so I guess it's alright after all, and I'm sure her fear of the owner has nothing to do with him being an openly gay man.
Many residents in the town also have had various paranormal experiences, hardly a surprise for a locale so obsessed with all things eerie. Rumors of small children who have died that haunt a local hotel, strange fires where people barely escaped with their lives, and UFO sightings from decades before all occur in the backdrop of this allegedly picturesque town. The local paranormal society tries to gather evidence of a haunting, of course largely unsuccessfully, though of course they claim they saw something anyway. All of this combines to provide an allegedly "real" layer to the town's previously just-in-the-movies haunted atmosphere.
Eventually, the documentary becomes an entirely different thing than it had intended, as most good docs tend to do. Rather than focus on a fun-loving town's devotion to a children's film, the audience is treated to tumultuous town meetings, businesses in peril, and a simmering irritation that seems to focus on the business owner who told one of his patrons with a bad experience that he "doesn't care, this is Halloweentown." Despite the underlying negativity, however, there are plenty of heartwarming stories as well. A local dance teacher who choreographs the big celebration on Halloween is dealing with family drama, is a particularly bright spot, as is the local alien museum owner who is desperately trying to fix the delay on his video-projected alien. It is typical small-town Americana, even if it does have a bit of a spooky flavor.
Ultimately, that's where this documentary really shines. It's cool for fans of the film, which has become a sort of pop culture cult classic, to see the real town where the film they love was made. But this is, after all, about a small town in America, with all of its successes and all of its flaws. It's the Pacific Northwest version of Salem, in a way, a town that does its best to capitalize on the events of the past by leaning heavily into horror aesthetics despite not always being for the best. For every haunted house there is a Christian fundamentalist yelling about Halloween being the Devil's holiday, for every huge pumpkin on the lawn of city hall there is a business owner trying his best to spit in the face of what makes the town so popular. We discover, however, that the festivities are healing to those who wish them to be, just like the holiday itself. And that is what's really important. That's why we come together as horror fans, and that's what the holiday means to so many people. It's nice to see that celebrated with a little slice of American small-town love.
Who this movie is for: Documentary lovers, Halloweentown fans, Holiday spiritists
Bottom line: The Spirit of Halloweentown is a great dedication to the town of St. Helens, Oregon and a celebration of all things spooky and Halloween. While there's a lot more going on behind the scenes, naturally helping to elevate the doc itself more than it would've been had it been just about the film, the holiday spirit is on full display and a great way to get into the Spooky Season. This is definitely one to check out for any fans of the film, sure, but it's also a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday we all know and love. Give this one a look if you can.
