By Lauren Bille
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

photo courtesy of nWave Pictures

If you are into ghosts, goblins, music and torturous themes, then Haunted Castle is a movie for you. It combines 3-D animation and live action for an incredible movie experience.

The main character, Johnny, played by Jasper Steverlinck, lead singer for the popular Belgian band Arid, is an up-and-coming musician. He is summoned to a castle at which his mother spent her final days.

The first scene is that of Johnny arriving at the castle doors. Once inside, he is met by Mephisto, voiced by Harry Shearer, who serves as Johnny's guide through the castle.

As he proceeds through the castle, Johnny meets Mr. D, also voiced by Harry Shearer, who tries to get Johnny to sign over his soul for the promise of fame. Before he has the chance to reply, Mr. D insists that Johnny take a tour deep into the bowels of the castle and see what happens to those who do not cooperate.

It begins as a walking tour that evolves into an action-packed roller coaster ride as Johnny goes deeper into the dungeons. As soon as it is over, Johnny returns to Mr. D refusing to take the deal. Having discovered Mr. D's contempt for opera singers, Johnny destroys the castle by doing just that, singing opera.

The movie keeps one guessing as to what the final outcome will be. The 3-D effects alone make the admission price worth it.

"I wanted to create a 3-D experience where the space itself was the main character of the film," said Ben Stassen, director of Haunted Castle. "The key, of course, was to design an organic environment that could expand through the story. A haunted castle seemed like a good set-up to do just that."

The architecture and furnishings created for the inside of the castle are great. I sometimes found myself looking around the room instead of at what the characters were doing.

The movie is geared toward music lovers, even featuring a live performance by Arid at the end, while the credits run. It is the first-ever live concert filmed in 3-D.

Moviegoers experience the whole movie from Johnny's point of view, so if you easily get motion sick, I would not suggest this movie. It is definitely not a movie for young children.

IMAX 3-D theater at Moody Gardens. Show times are 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday with an $8.95 admission.

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