Family Movie Night with Horrid Henry

What's the secret to a successful family movie night? It's really very simple:

Popcorn!

Sleeping bags!

Last but not least, a fun movie that the whole family will enjoy!  This weekend we watched Horrid Henry The Movie, which comes out on DVD tomorrow, March 12.  Child's Play Communications sent us an advanced copy of the DVD, along with a basket of fun items that Horrid Henry himself could not resist, and a copy of the first book in the series that Horrid Henry The Movie is based on.

We had never read Horrid Henry before, so we read it to 3Po and Jammy one bedtime, and they loved reading about the misadventures of a little boy named Henry who is, well, quite horrid.  I can see why kids, especially the boys, like the series:  it's really easy to read, it's divided into 4 stand-alone story chapters, the illustrations are funny (they remind me of Quentin Blakes illustrations), and best of all, Horrid Henry does all the naughty things that they would never dare to do but might secretly wish they could!  It set the stage nicely for the movie: they were eagerly looking forward to see what horrid things Henry would do in the movie.  I won't spoil the plot for anyone, so you'll have to be content with the official synopsis:

When Henry fails yet again to hand in his homework for the umpteenth time, he inadvertently sets off an unexpected and curious chain of events. He forms an unlikely alliance with Moody Margaret, the infuriating girl next door, wins a talent contest, and stands up to his ultimate nemesis. With each antic crazier than the last, Henry finds himself inexplicably trying to save the very school which he has always professed to hate!

The movie doesn't quite progress in the same way that the book does (although there are quite a few books in the series and we've only read one, so the movie might also have some of the plotlines in the other books), and Horrid Henry (played by Theo Stevenson) turned out to be a bit older than I had pictured him from the book, but other than that, it turned out to be just the kind of movie that you'd expect to be titled Horrid Henry: lots of crazy situations, stereotypical kid characters (all the kids' names are preceded by an adjective describing them, like Perfect Peter, Moody Margaret and Horrid Henry), grownups are clueless, and kids rule.  The behavior of  Horrid Henry, Moody Margaret and some of the other kids in the movie were spectacularly bad, so I had to make sure I got my little this-is-a-movie-no-way-you-would-ever-get-away-with-that-in-real-life-with-me! lecture at the end.  The kids laughed throughout the movie and even watched it again the very next day on our 2-hour drive to the boys' soccer tournament, so it's really the kind of movie that kids enjoy.

You can find Horrid Henry The Movie at Walmart, starting March 12, 2013, with a bonus downloadable activity kit and non-toxic slime pack.



Disclosure: Child's Play Communications sent me a review copy of the DVD and a gift basket to facilitate our review/Horrid Henry movie night. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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