On October 11, 2024, Hulu released 'Mr. Crocket', which has earned a mixed reception from critics at the time of this writing. In the film, "In 1993, a mysterious children's show host, Mr. Crocket, magically emerges from television sets to kidnap young children, brutally slaying their parents in the process. After Mr. Crocket snatches her son, one determined mother embarks on a perilous quest to track down the demonic entertainer and rescue her boy." The ensemble cast includes Elvis Nolasco, Jerrika Hinton, and Kristolyn Lloyd. But what did the critics say?
Trace Thurman of Bloody Disgusting says, "Crocket, an amalgamation of classic children’s television show hosts like Mr. Rogers and Reading Rainbow‘s LeVar Burton, is a decent enough antagonist, but Espy can’t make him the Freddy Krueger-type figure he so clearly wants him to be. Any mystique the character has is wiped away during an admittedly impressive animated story time sequence that doles out clunky exposition for the character. Less would have been more here. Performances are all serviceable, with Hinton finding the pathos in a good mother who makes one terrible mistake, but Espy’s screenplay doesn’t give her much to work with. The grief she feels over her husband’s passing is never really explored, with an early funeral scene meant to stand in for legitimate character development. Shortcuts like this only hinder Mr. Crocket, reducing what could have been a layered interrogation of parental struggles to a hokey footnote in horror canon. Had Espy leaned more into camp (one of the puppet creatures screaming “Do it, pussy!” elicits the appropriate laughs) there would be some fun to be had, but those moments are so few and far between that they don’t mesh well with the more serious approach he takes to the parenting aspects of the story."
Kate Sánchez of But Why Tho? A Geek Community writes, "Mr. Crocket’s World” is all about friendship, and when Major begins to obsess over the man on the TV, Summer has to decide if good behavior means anything when her son is just a zombie in front of the television set. Well, the VHS tape is a portal to a killer deadset on kidnapping children after brutally (and humorously) murdering their parents for their child-rearing transgressions." Adding, "A love letter to A Nightmare on Elm Street, Espy has created a film that plays with familiar concepts but still makes them unique. Mr. Crocket is a gorefest with fantastic practical effects and large swings that ultimately make up for some of the script’s awkwardness. The cast and crew are dedicated to capturing the 1990s, not only in the aesthetic of the time all the way down to the SEGA handheld but also in genre tone."
Paul Lê of Tales from the Paulside notes. Whether or not it was Espy’s intention, Mr. Crocket often behaves like a Elm Street rehash. At least at first. This movie indeed pinches parts of Krueger’s approach, however, once past the formalities of most contemporary horror — that obligatory search for answers followed by the final standoff between good and evil — Mr. Crocket goes in a somewhat different direction that humanizes this sort-of guardian for victimized and neglected children. Of course, this may or may not work for everyone. Sometimes evil being evil is fine and should be more acceptable in storytelling, whereas others might prefer the compassionate handling. The latter makes sense when recognizing Mr. Crocket was born from cloying kids entertainment that emphasized kindness. Mr. Crocket walks a familiar path, through and through. Even when slowing down to reveal what motivates the title character, the movie offers no new ideas or spins. What actually stands out here is the production. The demented and striking effects and props are a testament to the talents behind the camera. On the narrative front, Mr. Crocket is unremarkable, but it shows potential for the director as a budding creator of pulpy visual horror."
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| Photo by LexScope on Unsplash |
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