If you liked Ghostbusters and/or Men in Black and have someone in the five to seven age bracket in your house looking to go to the movies, this Irish co-production is pretty harmless fun that will pass a couple of hours.
A young lad called Tom, played by young British actor Milo Parker, discovers an Averagely Spooky Ghost in the basement of his home, his initial fears are alleviated when he finds out that Hugo may have a pretentious name but he's a decent sort of spook.
Hugo then seeks Tom's help in recovering his own haunted house, which has been annexed by the nasty AIG (Ancient Ice Ghost), who is also spreading winter throughout Tom's town. But one boy and a benign ghost aren't going to sort this problem on their own, so they seek expert help.
Hetty Cuminseed (Anke Engelke) is a professional ghosthunter with a bit of an attitude problem. She gets kicked out of the Central Ghosthunting Institute - whose acronym is obviously a play on the movie world's version of CGI - but despite her initial rejection of the pair, she decides to roll in with them, especially as the aforementioned Ancient Ice Ghost was responsible for her unemployment status.
Of Irish interest, Amy Huberman pops up as the receptionist at the CGI in a funny cameo, but that was about as surprising as it gets in a film that will not scare the youngest of audience members, but should have them rooting for the good guys and maybe even warming to the notion of ghosts.
It's a mildly diverting film, clearly made for under-sevens, but Ghosthunters: On Icy Trails will not keep Pixar or Disney suits awake at night. It might get itself a sequel, though.
John Byrne
