Horror films go through different cycles over the years. Sometimes slasher movies are popular and sometimes more subdued horror is what is being made and this is due to one generation emerging that grew up on an older era of content. I bring this up because Mr. Crocket is a film that feels heavily inspired by what came before, but manages to put its own unique spin on things.
To be more specific, Mr. Crocket is a horror film clearly inspired by the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise, but manages to set itself apart with how its villain, the titular Mr. Crocket operates. At this point, I should go into what the movie actually involves and I will attempt to do so without giving any spoilers so as to preserve the story for those who want to watch.
Mr. Crocket is a film set in 1993 where a mysterious video tape of a children’s show, known as Mr. Crocket’s World brings terror to a neighborhood. The video ends up in the hands of parents who show it to their children, only for the parents to end up killed and the children getting kidnapped abducted. One mother named Summer has shown the video to her son Major and soon they come under the threat of the killer, Mr. Crocket. The idea of a murderous or depraved children’s show host is not new at all, but Mr. Crocket manages to approach from a different angle and create something memorable.
Summer has to join forces with others to save her son and stop Mr. Crocket, and as I watched I couldn’t help noticing the large number of similarities to A Nightmare On Elm Street, many of which were clearly intentional. Mr. Crocket is not trying to be a ripoff though, but instead feels like a refreshing update of the concept, where the original inspiration may have simply outlived its premise. And that is fine, as nothing is meant to last forever, and Mr. Crocket feels like the ideal spiritual sequel to Freddy Kreuger’s story.
The characters in Mr. Crocket are likeable and engaging, and the horror is handled incredibly well with some excellent kills and some scenes later in the film that highlight the true nature of what Mr. Crocket actually is. Indeed, the character of Mr. Crocket is extremely well handled and Elvis Nolasco is perfectly cast, giving the appropriate fear and menace you want, but in a different way to Art the Clown from The Terrifier. Indeed, that franchise is getting a lot of praise for bringing back slasher films in a big way, but Mr. Crocket may soon provide a nice alternative if it gets sequels.
Apart from the overt horror and kills, there is something else about Mr. Crocket that stands out and that is the film’s handling of psychological themes and adult fears, while also tackling the fears children have of adults. The fear from a mysterious tape that can corrupt a youth is extremely relevant to today’s social media oriented society and the fear a parent will have is well realized here, as are the fears from minority parents for their kids and how society treats them. Mr. Crocket is a horror film that works both as a supernatural slasher film and a commentary on society and it is all around welcome.
Mr. Crocket is a film that deserves to have sequels, but I do hope that potential sequels avoid the mistakes made by its inspirations like the aforementioned A Nightmare On Elm Street series, where the movies ran out of steam and ran themselves into the ground. Until then, we have an incredibly well directed and well acted film in Mr. Crocket ,and another modern horror classic.
Mr. Crocket is streaming now on hulu in the United States and Disney+ internationally
