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Hubie Halloween is a 2020 American comedy horror mystery film directed by Steve Brill, co-written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler, and features an ensemble cast consisting of Sandler in the title role, Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Rob Schneider, June Squibb, Kenan Thompson, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows, Maya Rudolph, and Ben Stiller, with the latter reprising his role from Happy Gilmore (1996). The film follows a Halloween loving delicatessen worker who must save the town of Salem, Massachusetts, from a kidnapper as various hijinks occur.
Released on October 7, 2020, by Netflix, the film received mixed reviews from critics, although some critics considered it better than Sandler's other recent comedies. It pays tribute to actor Cameron Boyce, who was set to co-star, but died in 2019 due to epilepsy causing Karan Brar to appear in the intended role instead.
The day before Halloween, Hubie meets his strange new neighbor Walter Lambert, and news spreads around town about Richie Hartman, a convict and childhood friend of Hubie who has absconded from a local mental institution.
On Halloween day Hubie, working as Halloween Monitor, investigates Walter's home after hearing strange noises. Reporting this to the police, he is "recruited" by Downey as an "AUU" (auxiliary undercover unit). Hubie believes this assignment is genuine, but it is really just something Steve tells Hubie in hopes it will prevent Hubie from bothering him.
Hubie goes to a local Halloween party to monitor the activities, however, it soon turns sour. He is tricked into going into a corn maze seeking a lost child. Hubie's young co-worker Mike follows hoping to scare Hubie. He finds Mike and watches him get pulled into the maze and then disappear.
Hubie moves his attention to a drive-in cinema, where his old classmates Lester and Mary Hennessey scare him. They falsely report suspicious activity in one of the cars (who turn out to be trick-or-treaters driven by Mr. Hennessey to throw eggs at Hubie). Hubie flees into the woods and finds Walter, who thinks he is turning into a werewolf. He chases Hubie to a haunted house in a fun fair that is overseen by Chantal Taylor. Mr. and Mrs. Hennessey are kidnapped and Sgt. Downey is alerted.
At the haunted house, Hubie sees a male Siberian Husky, believing he is Walter in his final form. The dog Defecation and Coprophagia while Hubie attempts to interrogate and confront him, runs into the haunted house and he chases him inside. It is eventually shown that the Husky is Miss Taylor's dog named Buster. Pete Landolfa goes in to scare Hubie, but is kidnapped right in front of him.
Sgt. Downey arrives and suggests to Mayor Benson that they cancel Halloween. Hubie thinks it is Walter, but then Blake calls Downey. Walter has been at the police station with Richie, as they had turned themselves in. Walter's real name is Nick Hudson and Richie had escaped to bring him back to the mental institution, which they refer to as the werewolf treatment center. Downey, Benson, and Dave believe that Hubie is the kidnapper and is getting revenge on his bullies. He runs away and goes to the radio station.
DJ Aurora tells Hubie that someone calls a lot more than him always requesting a song for Hubie. They all think Violet Valentine, Sgt. Downey's ex-wife and Hubie’s love interest since his childhood, is the caller. The planted burner phone rings, revealing it to be in Hubie's house. Hubie races there, hoping his mother is okay.
Hubie arrives to discover his mother is the kidnapper, having taken Pete, Mike, and the Hennesseys as revenge for tormenting Hubie, and plans to burn them alive. He rescues them just as the police, the news media, Nick, and Richie arrive, but they are still ungrateful. His mother then scolds them all for the things they did to Hubie and they admit that they were jealous of him for various reasons. Hubie's mother suddenly disappears upon using the Frankenstein trick.
One year later, Hubie is married to Violet, is the new mayor of Salem, and his new foster kids are going trick or treating dressed like people they know. Having earned respect from the locals, Hubie goes into town on his bicycle with Downey escorting him and prepares for the Halloween festivities.
Additionally, Dan Patrick plays the Head teacher of the local elementary school. Melissa Villaseñor plays Karen, a cat owner in Hubie's neighborhood. WHDH morning anchor Alaina Pinto plays Salem's resident news anchor. Betsy Sodaro plays Bunny, Aurora's wife with a masculine voice provided by an uncredited actor. Kelli Berglund, Kevin Quinn, Bradley Steven Perry, Lilimar and Amber Frank respectively play the Billie Eilish girl, the Pennywise guy, Cormac, Coco and a female zombie band singer.
Adam Sandler's wife, Jackie Sandler, plays Tracy Phillips, a local news reporter, while their daughters Sadie and Sunny Sandler, play Violet's foster daughters Danielle and Cooky. Adam Sandler's nephew, Jared Sandler, plays a male zombie band singer. Tim Herlihy, the film's screenwriter, plays a Wild Bear while his son Martin Herlihy plays a teenage zombie. Nathan and Ethan Brill, the children of director Steven Brill, play two food fight kids. Allen Covert, the film's producer, plays a zombie movie dad while his kids, Hannah, Abigail, Rebecca, and Hank Covert, play Danielle and Cooky's friends and two food fight kids. Kannon James, the son of Kevin James, plays an "Exorcist costume kid" while Sienna, Shea and Sistine, James' daughters, play more of Danielle and Cooky's friends. Ben Stiller's daughter Ella Olivia Stiller and Ray Liotta's daughter Karsen Liotta play teenagers Lexie and Barb, respectively.
Principal photography began in July 2019 around Salem, Lynnfield, Hamilton, Marblehead, Danvers, Tewksbury and other parts of Massachusetts, wrapping in early September.
David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "B–," praising the cameos and saying, "Are those details enough to make Hubie Halloween much better than all the other content Sandler has churned out for Netflix so far, or am I just drunk on the movie's pumpkin-spiced production design? It's hard to say, but this is the first time in a long time that it feels nice to watch the Sandman goof off with his friends for 90 minutes."
For the 41st Golden Raspberry Awards, Hubie Halloween received three nominations for Worst Actor (for Sandler), Worst Screen Combo (for "Sandler and His Grating Simpleton Voice"), and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel (for a "Remake/Rip-Off of Ernest Scared Stupid").
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | March 13, 2021 | Favorite Movie | Hubie Halloween | ||
| Favorite Movie Actor | Adam Sandler | ||||
| Golden Raspberry Awards | April 24, 2021 | Worst Actor | Adam Sandler | ||
| Worst Screen Combo | Adam Sandler and his grating simpleton voice | ||||
| Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel | Hubie Halloween (rip-off of Ernest Scared Stupid) |
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