Redheaded Jill

This was by far the creepiest movie yet. Even though the plot was good, there were a lot of ghosts and creepy figures. I would NOT recommend this one for kids. Also, I can never remember the names of these characters. It would take much more than one run through to know them all. So forgive me for the vague language.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

A 10 year old girl is in the car with her parents. They’re moving to a new place and she’s not happy about it. They get out of the car to stretch their legs and explore. Turns out they stumble on an enchanted abandoned amusement park. The parents find some cursed food and are turned into pigs after eating it.

The girl is met by a ghost like boy who tells her what to do.

She is running through a bath house, filled with people and giant talking animals. They all seem to be cursed.

The witch who runs the show (she is TERRIFYING) tricks people into signing contracts. She then steals their names and entraps them. That is why the boy from the beginning and all the people/animals are working.

The witch runs a bathhouse for spirits.

The girl is tasked with cleaning the bath house. She leaves the front door open for a trickster spirit, thinking he’s a client. She helps a very filthy spirit escape his snare and is given a gift. The spirit pays the witch lots of money, making the girl a hero to the witch.

Later the trickster spirit enters the bath house, enticing everyone with gold. He ends up swallowing several of the workers and grows bigger and more violent. In the meantime the girl is shown where her parents are kept, and her friend warns her to study and memorize which of the pigs are her parents. The boy also tells her her true name, that the witch had stolen. He plans to help her escape.

The witch has a twin sister who shows up causing mischief. The girl’s friend, who we find out is a dragon, has stolen something from the twin and she wants it back. The girl uses her gift from the filthy spirit and saves her friend from the witch’s spell. She decides to return what he stole in hopes that the twin will save her friend. (She didn’t realize she’d already saved him.) The witch’s twin sister is actually amazing and kind.

The girl returns to the bath house and learns that she released her friend from the witch’s control. He makes the witch agree to let the girl go. She is given a final test, and when she passes she and her parents are set free. She also finds out the real name of her friend, further freeing him from the witch. It turns out he is a river spirit who had many years before saved the girl from drowning.

The family returns to their car ready to leave, forgetting everything that happened to them.

The start of this movie had me thinking I might turn it off. I didn’t care for it, I found it very scary. But I kept going and am glad I did. The little girl’s pure heart was very sweet. She worked hard to rescue her parents and made so many friends along the way. Even the witch ended up being a little bit likable… for an evil witch.

I wouldn’t show this one to kids under 12, and even then if the kid is easily spooked I’d hold off a little longer. I don’t know what it is about scary cartoons, but they’re sometimes worse than live action horrors.

2.5/5 stars.