The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It

R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It
DVD cover
Directed by	Alex Zamm
Written by	Dan Angel Billy Brown
Produced by	Dan Angel Billy Brown
Starring	Emily Osment Alex Winzenread Cody Linley Brittany Curran Tobin Bell
Cinematography	Jacques Haitkin
Edited by	John Gilbert Todd C. Ramsay
Music by	Chris Hajian
Distributed by	Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release dates	September 4, 2007
Running time	104 min.
Country
Language	English

R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It is a 2007 film based on the R. L. Stine children's book series starring Hannah Montana's Emily Osment and Cody Linley.

Plot

Cassie (Emily Osment) is a 13-year-old goth girl who just moved to a new neighborhood and school. She loves playing tricks on the popular kids and her little brother, Max (Alex Winzenread). On the way to the library, she finds a mysterious Halloween store down an alleyway and goes inside. She ends up finding a little book called The Evil Thing the owner suggested her for reading. She ignores the warning at the front page "DO NOT READ ALOUD" and reads it aloud to her little brother, Max, later that night. The Evil Thing, brought to life by Max's thoughts, captures him, Priscilla (Brittany Curran), one of the popular girls in school and a Papa Johns pizza delivery man. It is up to Cassie and Sean (Cody Linley) to save them. At first, they try to defeat The Evil Thing on their own, but fail. Cassie then thinks about the owner of the shop, where she got the book, to ask for help. As it turns out, the owner planted the book on her so she could get the real taste of her evil deeds and left them only a riddle for help: "Two heads are better than one. That's the way to get the bloody job done." Sean brilliantly makes remarks that solve the riddle. Together, they formulate that if they get blood from a roast that Cassie's mother made and throw it on the Evil Thing it will be forced to suck up the blood and in doing so will devour itself. By using Sean's CD of monster sound-effects as a "mating call", they accidentally drop the blood nearby recently-freed Max who must conquer his fears and save the day. After the monster is destroyed, Max, Sean and Cassie save Priscilla who angrily calls Cassie a witch when Sean rejects Priscilla in favor of Cassie and after she leaves they save the pizza guy who offers free pizza in return for his release. After eating the free pizza, they burn the book and rid themselves of The Evil Thing... or not? After coming home, their parents find the book singed in the fireplace. The father mockingly reads it aloud, until the point he finishes off the story, when suddenly the lights go out. Cassie awakes and realizes it is not over yet...

The Evil Thing

A poem about the creature, brought to life by Max's thoughts, that captures Max, Priscilla, and a Pizza Guy:

The Evil Thing is a gruesome beast.
On living flesh, it loves to feast.
It's a two-headed thing that you don't wish to greet...
One head sucks your blood, one head chews your meat.
It carries its babies in slimy eggs on its back.
The babies are hungry when they hatch for a snack,
so the Evil Thing traps some poor victims alive,
for the babies to eat when their birthdays arrive,
but don't worry, don't cry, please don't have a fit...
The Evil Thing is not real unless you think about it.
Remember...Don't think about it.

The stranger also gives a short poem to help get rid of the evil thing:
Two heads are better than one.
That's the way to get the bloody job done.

Cast

• Emily Osment as Cassie Keller
• Alex Winzenread as Max Keller
• Cody Linley as Sean
• Brittany Curran as Priscilla, who is "crowned Pumpkin Queen.
• Michelle Duffy as Eileen Keller
• John Hawkinson as Jack Keller
• Tobin Bell as The Stranger

Release date

The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It was released straight-to-DVD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment." and The Hatchery on September 4, 2007 before being released to Cartoon Network as a television film on September 7, 2007. It was the first family direct-to-video film to be released on DVD in separate widescreen and pan and scan formats.

On October 28th, 2007, Cartoon Network concluded a two day marathon of Goosebumps episodes with a special airing of The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It hosted by Emily Osment. At various points throughout the broadcast, Osment would appear on screen, superimposed over the movie in progress, and share a brief anecdote about the production of the film.

DVD Special Features

• Making of The Haunting Hour
• Think About It: R.L. Stine's Journey of Imagination
• Interactive Scare'O'Meter
• "I Don't Think About It": Exclusive Music Video by Emily Osment

Production

The film was filmed in the Pittsburgh area in the first half of 2007.

Music

• "I Don't Think About It" by Emily Osment
• "Still Alright" by Adam Merrin of The 88
• "Tell Me" by Failed Flight

Trivia

• Emily Osment and Cody Linley are both on Disney Channel's Hannah Montana. Emily has a starring role as Lilly Truscott and Cody has a recurring role as Jake Ryan.
• This was the first film to use the Universal Studios Family Productions logo, which is the same as the Universal Studios logo.
• Max has a Pokémon blanket and pillowcase and a Spongebob lamp and pillow.
• The monkey that Max sleeps with is also seen in the films Big Fat Liar and Scary Movie.
• When Cassie is first being told about the Evil Thing's existence after it gets Max, she doesn't believe it, and says "I'm being punked, right?". This could be a reference to the show "Punk'd", where the sole purpose is to play jokes on celebrities.
• In the cafeteria when Cassie was walking away, there was a sign that showed the Aquapod logo.
• Cassie also has an Aquapod on her lunch tray in the scene where the cafeteria lady is explaining the importance of being the Pumpkin Queen.
• Papa John's Pizza co-promoted the movie with DVD coupon placement on their Pizza delivery boxes, and the restaurant chain's logo was also frequently shown in the movie.

External links

• The Haunting Hour Volume One: Don't Think About It at IMDb
• DVD site
• Official Movie Site
• Canadian DVD site