Hubie Halloween

Hubie Halloween is a 2020 American comedy-mystery horror film directed by Steven Brill, written by Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy, and starring an ensemble cast consisting of Sandler, Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Rob Schneider, June Squibb, Kenan Thompson, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Buscemi, Maya Rudolph, Tim Meadows, Karan Brar, Paris Berelc, Noah Schnapp, China Anne McClain, and Michael Chiklis. The film follows a Halloween-loving delicatessen worker who must save the town of Salem, Massachusetts from a kidnapper.

Hubie Halloween
Official poster
Directed bySteven Brill
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music byRupert Gregson-Williams
CinematographySeamus Tierney
Edited by
  • Tom Costain
  • Brian Robinson
  • JJ Titone
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Released on October 7, 2020 by Netflix, the film received mixed reviews from critics. The film pays tribute to actor Cameron Boyce, who was set to star but died in 2019.

Plot

Hubie Dubois (Adam Sandler) is a delicatessen employee in Salem, Massachusetts who is ridiculed by almost the entire city, and is the butt of many practical jokes while his antics have annoyed police sergeant Steve Downey (Kevin James) and Father Dave (Michael Chiklis). Hubie spends his time during Halloween monitoring the city as the official Halloween Helper.

The day before Halloween, Hubie meets his strange new neighbor Walter Lambert (Steve Buscemi), and news spreads around town about Richie Hartman (Rob Schneider), a convict who has absconded from a local mental institution.

The next day is Halloween; Hubie is working as Halloween Monitor and investigates Walter's home after reports of strange noises. Having reported this to the police, he is "recruited" by Downey (Kevin James) as an "AUU" (auxiliary undercover unit). Hubie believes this assignment is genuine, although Steve hopes it will deter Hubie from bothering him.

Hubie goes to a local Halloween party to monitor the activities. However, it soon turns sour. Hubie is tricked into going into a corn maze following reports about a lost child. Hubie's teenage co-worker Mike (Karan Brar) follows hoping to scare Hubie. Hubie finds Mike and sees him getting pulled into the maze, then nowhere to be found.

Hubie moves his attention to monitoring at a drive-in cinema. Hubie’s old classmates Lester and Mary Hennessey (Tim Meadows and Maya Rudolph) scare Hubie after false reports of suspicious activity in one of the cars at the drive-in (who turn out to be trick-or-treaters driven by Mr. Hennessey to throw eggs at Hubie). He flees in to the woods and finds Walter. Walter thinks he is turning into a werewolf and chases Hubie to a haunted house in a fun fair.

Mr. and Mrs. Hennessey are kidnapped and Sgt. Downey is alerted. At the haunted house, Hubie sees a husky, thinking it is Walter in his final form. The husky then runs into the haunted house and Hubie chases it inside. Pete Landolfa (Ray Liotta) goes in to scare Hubie, but is kidnapped in front of him. Sgt. Downey arrives and suggests to Mayor Benson (George Wallace) that they cancel Halloween. Hubie thinks it is Walter, but then Sgt. Blake (Kenan Thompson) calls that Walter is at the police station with Richie who had turned themselves in, who also reveals that Walter's real name is Nick Hudson. Richie had escaped to bring Walter back to the mental institution which they refer to as the werewolf treatment center. Downey, Benson, and Dave agree that Hubie is the kidnapper, thinking he is getting revenge on his bullies. He runs away and goes to a radio station.

DJ Aurora (Shaquille O'Neal, voiced by Vivian Nixon) tells Hubie that someone calls a lot more than him always requesting a song for Hubie. They all think Sgt. Downey's ex-wife Violet Valentine (Julie Bowen) is the caller. The burner phone that was planted when called is revealed to be in Hubie's house and he races there, hoping his mother (June Squibb) is okay. It is revealed that Hubie's mother kidnapped Pete, Mike, and the Hennesseys as revenge for tormenting Hubie and plans to burn them alive. He rescues them just as the police, Nick, and Richie arrive. His mother then scolds Pete, Mike and the Hennesseys for all the things they did to Hubie and they also admitted that they were jealous of him. Hubie's mother suddenly disappears upon using the Frankenstein trick.

One year later, Hubie is married to Violet, is the new Mayor of Salem, and his new foster kids are going trick or treating dressed as people he knows. Having earned respect from the locals, Hubie goes into town on his bicycle with Downey escorting him and prepares for the Halloween festivities.

Cast

  • Adam Sandler as Hubie Dubois, a delicatessen employee.
  • Kevin James as Sgt. Steve Downey, a police sergeant that is constantly bothered by Hubie.
  • Julie Bowen as Violet Valentine, Hubie's girlfriend and Sgt. Downey's ex-wife.
  • Ray Liotta as Pete Landolfa, a rude man who recently lost his father and is one of Hubie's tormentors.
  • Rob Schneider as Richie Hartman, a convict who escaped from a mental institution.
  • June Squibb as Hubie's mother
  • Kenan Thompson as Sgt. Blake, a police sergeant working under Steve Downey.
  • Shaquille O'Neal as DJ Aurora, a radio host with a feminine voice.
  • Steve Buscemi as Walter Lambert / Nick Hudson, Hubie's neighbor who believes himself to be a 459 year old werewolf.
  • Maya Rudolph as Mary Hennessey, one of Hubie's old classmates who often pranks him.
  • Tim Meadows as Lester Hennessey, Mary's husband and one of Hubie's old classmates who assists his wife in pranking Hubie.
  • Karan Brar as Deli Mike Mundi, Hubie's co-worker who often torments Hubie.
  • Paris Berelc as Megan, a girl who is Tommy's dream girl.
  • Noah Schnapp as Tommy, Violet's foster son.
  • China Anne McClain as Miss Chantal Taylor, an elementary school teacher.
  • Michael Chiklis as Father Dave, Salem's resident preacher who is often annoyed with Hubie's antics.
  • George Wallace as Mayor Benson, the Mayor of Salem.
  • Colin Quinn as a janitor.
  • Kym Whitley as Louise, a local farmer.
  • Lavell Crawford as Dave, a local farmer.
  • Mikey Day as Axehead, a haunted house employee.
  • Blake Clark as Tayback, a cook.
  • Tyler Crumley as Adam O'Doyle, a boy who frequently bullies Hubie with his friends.[1][2]

Ben Stiller reprises his role as Hal L., an orderly at Richie's asylum who previously appeared in Happy Gilmore.[2][3][4] Dan Patrick plays the principal of the local elementary school. Melissa Villaseñor plays Karen, a cat owner in Hubie's neighborhood. WHDH morning anchor Alaina Pinto plays Salem's resident news anchor. Betsy Sodaro plays Bunny, Aurora’s wife with a masculine voice. Peyton List, Kelli Berglund, Kevin Quinn, Bradley Steven Perry, Lilimar and Amber Frank play teenagers Peggy, Billie Eilish Girl, Pennywise Guy, Cormac, Coco, and a Female Zombie Band Singer.[4]

Sandler's wife Jackie plays Tracy Phillips, a local news reporter, while their children Sadie and Sunny play Violet's foster daughters Danielle and Cooky. Sandler's nephew, Jared plays a Male Zombie Band Singer. Screenwriter Tim Herlihy plays a Wild Bear, while his son Martin plays a Teenage Zombie. Director Steven Brill's children Nathan and Ethan play two Food Fight Kids. Producer Allen Covert plays a Zombie Movie Dad while his kids Hannah, Abigail, Rebecca, and Hank play Danielle and Cooky's friends and two Food Fight Kids. Kevin James' children appear sporadically throughout the film: Kannon plays "Exorcist Costume Kid" while Sienna, Shea and Sistine play more of Danielle and Cooky's friends. Ben Stiller and Ray Liotta's daughters Ella Olivia and Karsen play teenagers Lexie and Barb.[4]

Production

In July 2019, the film was announced as Adam Sandler's next film as part of his Netflix deal, with Happy Madison regulars Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Maya Rudolph, Steve Buscemi, Rob Schneider, Tim Meadows, Colin Quinn, Blake Clark and Shaquille O'Neal as part of the cast. Ray Liotta, Michael Chiklis, Kenan Thompson, Peyton List, China Anne McClain, Paris Berelc, June Squibb, Noah Schnapp, Mikey Day, Melissa Villaseñor, Kym Whitley, Lavell Crawford, Betsy Sodaro, and George Wallace were also attached, with Steven Brill directing from a screenplay by Sandler and Tim Herlihy.[5] Cameron Boyce, who had starred alongside Sandler in the Grown Ups series, was set to star in the film, but died in July 2019 from complications of epilepsy just days before shooting. Boyce's best friend and former Jessie co-star Karan Brar was then recast in his role.[6] The film is dedicated in Boyce's memory.[7]

Principal photography began in July 2019 around Salem, Lynnfield, Hamilton, Marblehead, Danvers and other parts of Massachusetts,[8][9] wrapping in early September.[10]

Release

Hubie Halloween was digitally released by Netflix on October 7, 2020. It was the top-streamed title in its first two weeks of release.[11] It finished third in its third weekend, then over Halloween weekend placed sixth.[12][13]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads "Viewers immune to its star's charms won't find it much of a treat, but Hubie Halloween is sweet enough to satisfy fans of Adam Sandler's antics."[14] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[15]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "B–", praising the cameos and saying: "Are those details enough to make Hubie Halloween much better than all the other content Sandler has churned out for Netflix so far, or am I just drunk on the movie's pumpkin-spiced production design? It's hard to say, but this is the first time in a long time that it feels nice to watch the Sandman goof off with his friends for 90 minutes."[16]

References
  1. Jirak, Jamie (2020-10-08). "Billy Madison's O'Doyle Bullies Make a Comeback in Hubie Halloween". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  2. Eisenberg, Eric (2020-10-09). "7 Classic Adam Sandler References In Netflix's Hubie Halloween". CinemaBlend. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  3. Menta, Anna (2020-10-07). "'Hubie Halloween' Opens With a 'Happy Gilmore' Callback For Classic Adam Sandler Fans". Decider. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  4. Gates, Christopher (2020-10-07). "Every single cameo in Adam Sandler's Hubie Halloween". Looper. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  5. N'Duka, Amanda (July 22, 2019). "Adam Sandler Sets Next Netflix Comedy With All-Star Cast Including Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Maya Rudolph & Many More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  6. Harvey, Josephine (October 8, 2020). "The Moving Story Behind Adam Sandler's Tribute To Cameron Boyce In 'Hubie Halloween'". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  7. "Adam Sandler Pays Tribute to Cameron Boyce in 'Hubie Halloween'". www.yahoo.com.
  8. Slane, Kevin (July 21, 2019). "Photos: Halloween arrived early on the North Shore thanks to Adam Sandler's 'Hubie Halloween' filming". Boston.com. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  9. "Adam Sandler is on the North Shore to film Netflix movie 'Hubie Halloween'". Boston.com. July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  10. "Adam Sandler thanks Massachusetts after wrapping up 'Hubie Halloween' filming on North Shore". Boston.com. September 3, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  11. Brueggemann, Tom (October 19, 2020). "Paramount Takes 'Love and Monsters' to PVOD and It's a Hit". IndieWire. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  12. Brueggemann, Tom (October 26, 2020). "'After We Collided' Is a Smash with Small Pricetag, While 'Unhinged' Makes Its PVOD Debut". IndieWire. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  13. Brueggemann, Tom (November 2, 2020). "Netflix's 'Holidate' and VOD 'After We Collided' Thrive as Romance Beats Horror Over Halloween". IndieWire. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  14. "Hubie Halloween (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  15. "Hubie Halloween Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  16. Ehrlich, David (October 7, 2020). "'Hubie Halloween' Review: The Adam Sandler Netflix Comedy America Needs Right Now". IndieWire. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
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