Sheriff Curtis

Sheriff Curtis

When Good Ghouls Go Bad

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When Good Ghouls Go Bad is a book written by R. L. Stine and was later turned into a movie that aired on Fox Family in 2001. The story is set in the fictional town of Walker Falls, Minnesota, during the Halloween season.

Plot

Danny Walker, and his father have just moved to the town from Chicago so his father can fulfill his dream of re-opening the family chocolate factory. Danny and his father, James, are staying with James's father, known by all as "Uncle Fred". Uncle Fred is apparently crazy and obsessed with Space-Food sticks, Tang, and Hot Wheels. He is a bit like a child and knows how to drive a go cart, and play video games quite well. He also is into the Apollo space mission and is building a model rocket, and he has a space suit that he frequently wears.

The boy quite dislikes Walker Falls. To him it is a town full of weirdos and no one likes him. The school principle glares at him in the hallways, the janitor makes sure to tip over his bucket of water as he comes past, and the football coach, Mr. Kankle and his son, Ryan, are not much fun either. Ryan is the school bully; stealing kids' desserts at lunch and scaring everyone. The only person who seems to be nice to Danny is Mrs. Taylor Morgan, the school nurse. She went to high school with Danny's father and, by the end of the story, has feelings for him.

Danny is surprised by how few decorations are up with Halloween only a week away. The people of Walker Falls do not seem to be making any effort at all to celebrate the holiday. Sheriff Frady even takes down the decorations that Danny has just put up earlier that morning. But after a run-in with Ryan and his pal Leo in the graveyard that night, Danny soon learns why. As Danny is walking home from school and sees his crush, Dayna Stenson, he is caught up in her good looks and walks right into a lamppost. He loses sight of Dayna and then realizes he is alone in front of a creepy old Victorian style house. It is here that Ryan and Leo push him into the cemetery, lock the gate and tell him that Walker Falls does not celebrate Halloween because of the legend of Curtis Danko. Ryan tells the story.

Curtis Danko was an eighth grade student at the local middle school a few decades ago; Mr. Kankel and Sheriff Frady were in his class. Curtis was an outcast, with bushy black hair and pale skin. He was obsessed with art, but never painted what "normal" people would paint. Instead, he drew pictures of monsters and aliens. A competition was held in Walker Falls that year for all the eighth graders to design a sculpture. While all the other kids worked on their sculptures, Curtis had his covered. After the school was closed, he would come back and work by the light of the fireflies. He didn't take Halloween off. That night he still went to the art room and worked on his sculpture. Coach Kankel and his friends decided to go up to the art room and pay him a visit. When he heard their ladder, Curtis hid in the kiln room and so when the other boys arrived, they did not see anyone. Then they heard the janitor and left in a hurry. According to Ryan, no one knows how the kiln door locked or how the kiln turned on.

When Mr. Kankel returned the next day, he noticed the kiln had been on all night. He opened the door and found Curtis's charred skeleton and a message saying that if the town of Walker Falls ever celebrated another Halloween, he would come back and kill them all. Mr. Kankel was blind for three days after seeing Curtis' finished statue. He said it was like being face to face with the devil himself. Everyone in the town believed the legend and, since then, Halloween has never been celebrated.

Danny thinks it is a silly story, though it explains why everyone has been being so weird. Just then, Ryan and Leo try to force Danny to look at the sculpture, but Danny is too quick and he bolts through the bars of the cemetery and races home where Uncle Fred is waiting, dressed as a warrior.

Danny's dad is rarely around, so Uncle Fred has served as a stand-in father for Danny. That night, Mr. Walker is planning to announce his "Halloween Spooktacular" idea to raise funds to re-open Walker Chocolates at the town meeting. Uncle Fred and Danny try to explain the situation, but dad just won't listen. They decide to go to the meeting dressed as women.

At the meeting, Mayor Churney announces his campaign for re-election. Running against him is Micheal Kankle. After the announcements, it is Mr. Walker's turn. He is surprised to find that the people of Walker Falls shudder at just the mention of Halloween. To bring the conversation back on track, his secretary passes out samples of chocolate, but the audience isn't very enthusiastic. The meeting ends after all but a few leave the town hall. Danny's father is very upset when he learns about the legend which has completely ruined his plans. He decides to cancel the "spooktacular" and get funds elsewhere.

Uncle Fred then reveals why no one likes Danny. Uncle Fred was responsible for building the kiln that killed Curtis. That night, Danny dreams he is at Curtis's crypt and sees the cloth being ripped off the statue.

That morning, there is a commotion outside the house. A large pile of pumpkins has been discovered in the town center. It finally looks like Walker Falls might celebrate another Halloween. But when Uncle Fred lifts a pumpkin, the entire pile rolls on top of him, killing him. Everyone in town is at Uncle Fred's funeral and Danny is very sad. As a memento, he lets his grandfather's favorite car shoot down the track and rest in his coffin.

However, because of Uncle Fred's love of Halloween, the magic in the cemetery allows him to return to the living as a zombie. Unfortunately, that same magic seems to awaken others from their slumber including Curtis Danko. The undead begin capturing all the townsfolk and gathering them to the creepy old Victorian style house chanting the phrase, "Statue." Meanwhile, Danny and Dayna try to explain to James and Taylor the situation. "Uncle Fred" reveals his zombie self to his son and Nurse Morga, both fainting in the process. Zombies break into the house and "Uncle Fred" explains that Curtis might be behind the zombies awakening and tells them to escape while he holds the other zombies off. Unfortunately, he, his son, and Nurse Morgan are all captured. One of the zombies stating that "Uncle Fred" was the main part of the plan.

When everyone is gathered, Curtis reveals himself to the people, as he is about to reveal his statue, he is attacked and literally torn apart by Coach Kankle. However, because Curtis is a zombie, he manages himself to pull himself together, and scare the wits out of Kankle. As Curtis pulls off the shroud off his statue, every covers their eyes in fear. Surprisingly, nothing happens. Everyone uncovers their eyes and see that Curtis' statue reveals to be a that of "Uncle Fred."

Curtis then shows Uncle Fred a picture of the two of them, "Uncle Fred" shaking Curtis' hand, as it implied that Curtis looked up to him. "Uncle Fred", still guilty about Curtis' death, wonders why he made this statue for him as it was his kiln that killed him. Curtis then turns to Coach Kankle and points to him, naming him as his killer.

Kankle confesses that the night Curtis died, he was working on the statue of "Uncle Fred" and as a prank to scare him, Kankle, Frady, and his group pushed Curtis into the kiln and locked him in it then taunting him. Suddenly, the janitor appeared and Kankel's group ran off. While cleaning the class, the janitor accidentally turns on the kiln not realizing Curtis was inside. The next day, Kankle went inside the kiln and saw Curtis' corpse as well as the completed statue of "Uncle Fred." To hide his crime, he made up the curse by writing the words in the ash as well as throwing ash into his eyes to make it seem like it was Curtis' doing. Kankle also reveals that the statue of "Uncle Fred" was voted to be put in town square. It's revealed that Uncle Fred donated much time and money to the town's children promoting creativity and imagination; thus he was loved by many children explaing why he was called "Uncle Fred" and why much of his actions were seen as childish to some.

Kankle wouldn't stand for someone to promoted things that were "girly" and wanted things "manly." However, Kankle's action earns him the wrath of his father, who is among the group of zombies, upset at what he has done. He then grabs Coach Kankle's ear and drags him out to "punish" him. By the end, the townspeople applaud Curtis' statue; and with that, Curtis has accomplished what he's done and bid farewell to the town disappearing into the night returning to his crypt to finally rest. Meanwhile, the other zombies bid farewell. "Uncle Fred" reconciles with his son, James, saying this will be the last time he will see him on Earth, but he'd be watching him always on the other side. He then leaves with his wife (James' mother and Danny's grandmother) and the two join the other zombies, sharing one final dance as all the entities slowly disappear dancing into the night. Danny and Dayna share a kiss, while James and Taylor hold hands as they watch the dancing zombies fade into the night. By the end, German investors that spoke to James earlier loved the concept of Halloween and decide to support him reopening the family chocolate factory.

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Categories: ABC Family original films | 2001 television films | Novels by R. L. Stine | Television film stubsHidden categories: Articles lacking sources from June 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention from November 2009

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Ridley Scott's original Robin Hood concept?

When Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe first became attached to Universal's Robin Hood project, the script was called Nottingham. Crowe was to play a more complex, "human" Sheriff of Nottingham, a good man torn between his loyalty to the corrupt King John and his own sense of right & wrong. And Robin Hood was to be a youthful, charismatic, dangerous outlaw (Sam Riley, who portrayed Ian Curtis in Control and starred in the recent Brighton Rock, was considered for the role).

Does anyone else wish they had stayed with this concept? Now, I enjoyed Scott's Robin Hood, but it felt a bit...flat. They had this chance to explore and re-imagine this wealth of history, mythology, and pop culture--and they more or less turned it into Gladiator 2: Nottingham Version, lol. Complete with big battle sequences and all.

Plus, Crowe as a conflicted, sorrowful Sheriff would've been so much more intense and interesting than Crowe as a Maximus-y "Robin Hood."

Bonus Q: Favorite medieval-era film?

Huh. Yeah, that would have made a more complex character than any in the movie. Maybe they thought it would turn out to be too psychological and maybe not attract as wide an audience? And the character whose life is destined for something but doesn't know it yet is always popular. I'd like to see both made; they'd be two completely different movies, besides Robin Hood's always the good guy.

Does Braveheart count? Maybe The Name of the Rose.

First Nation "Tribute to Native Peoples"