On October 6th, 2020, “Hubie Halloween” was released on Netflix. The Sandler led comedy was touted as the movie that “would save 2020” on places like Tik Tok mostly due to its, I guess you could call all-star, cast of largely mediocre, but popular actors such as Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Rob Schneider, Steve Buschemi, Kenan Thompson, and the rest of Sandler’s normal cronies that we see in all the typical Sandler and Happy Madison Production films. So, did the horror film parody “Hubie Halloween” live up to the hype?

First off, no one really went into this movie expecting some sort of masterpiece, and a masterpiece it definitely is not. The pacing is off throughout the entire movie and the editing is a true abomination. The dialogue is atrocious and the acting is more than subpar, but that is expected from an Adam Sandler movie where he has creative control.

The movie follows social outcast weirdo Hubie (Adam Sandler), a possibly mentally-challenged individual whos tasks himself with protecting the town of Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night. Hubie is absolutely loathed by the people of Salem, who see him as a snitch and a buzzkill that ruins all the fun of Halloween with his rules. When several of Hubie’s biggest bullies begin to disappear on Halloween night. Hubie is tasked by the town’s police chief (Kevin James) with finding the culprit all while a mental hospital patient (Rob Schnieder) and “Werewolf” (Steve Buschemi) are on the loose and Hubie deals with his love interest, Violet (Julie Bowen) and her adopted children. The main driving force of “Hubie Halloween” was its packed cast, and in terms of the acting, it is clear that the actors were just trying to have fun, and not take everything too seriously. They do alright with the garbage material that they are given, but no one other than the character of Hubie is remotely likable. Pretty much everyone who isn’t Violet, one of her children, or Hubie’s mom (June Squibb) is just unlikable. Every character in the movie is one-dimensional and only relies on one specific character trait. Even the side characters are unlikable and the extras as well, as they all completely abuse and humiliate Hubie for little to no reason. “Hubie Halloween” follows the typical formula of other Adam Sandler Netflix movies, and the ending and the plot twist are easily predictable if you have watched any of Sandler’s previous work with Netflix. In terms of Sandler himself, he gives a really strange persona. He definitely fits the character, but it’s depressing to see how Sandler decided to follow the best performance of his career in “Uncut Gems” with this glorified joke of a movie.

Despite all of this, I still believe that “Hubie Halloween” generally achieved its goal of being a fun movie to watch on a Saturday night. It’s an enjoyable watch, and a good movie to distract yourself from this horrible year. The movie doesn’t treat itself as anything other than it is, a typical addition to Sandler’s catalog and an overall watchable movie that is likely to please nostalgic 90s and 2000s babies and fans of the Sandler saga.