I love a good vintage Halloween special, and as a Halloween enthusiast, I thought I was pretty familiar with the vast catalog of 70s, 80s, and 90s October offerings. But, today, YouTube suggested to me a little film called Who Spooked Rodney?
Who Spooked Rodney is a 1978 classic written, produced, and directed by Tom Robertson. It is a Multimedia Program Production starring Chris Dingwell as the titular Rodney, an extremely superstitious kid just trying to navigate life and the Halloween season with a severe case of OCD.
Seriously. I don't say that in jest. This kid absolutely has a clinical case of OCD and is most likely on the spectrum. His superstitious nature extends way beyond his fear of black cats and broken mirrors---he has to do certain things in certain ways, much to the annoyance of his family, especially his sister. In fact, the story opens with her screeching at him before school because he's taken an extra 30 seconds in the bathroom to tie his shoes. He HAS to tie his shoes in the bathroom, which becomes a huge deal at breakfast with his mom also berating this 'weird' behavior. His father is blissfully ignorant of the whole ordeal and is probably who Rodney inherited his diagnosis from.
The plot takes place over the course of Halloween day. At school, Rodney's class bobs for apples and their teacher tells them a little about the origins of Halloween. I love this scene because of the heavy Halloween visuals and nostalgia. There's a Jack-o-Lantern blow mold on the teacher's desk, and the whole classroom is decked out in colorful, festive die-cuts. Although this movie came out four years before I was born, it still reminded me of how MY elementary classrooms looked during the Halloween season.
Rodney and his two close friends make plans to go trick-or-treating, but on the way home, they pass by a fortuneteller's shop. The superstitious Rodney has no qualms about getting his fortune told and plans to trick-or-treat at the shop later that night and ask the psychic to give him his fortune as his treat.
In a call back to a bygone era, trick-or-treat begins AFTER dark. Rodney has a pretty awesome Dracula costume. One of his buddies is wearing a blue furry monster-type suit, and the other is wearing a homemade clown costume for the third year in a row. After Rodney refuses to take candy from a home with 13 in the address, his friends suggest he go visit the fortuneteller. Surprisingly, Rodney is the only one brave enough to actually go inside. The fortuneteller ends up telling him that the shadows will consume him before the stroke of midnight.
Spooked, but putting on a brave facade, Rodney then accompanies his friends to the local haunted house, which is full of classic haunted house staples, like floating body parts and grotesque monsters jumping out. Upon leaving, Rodney says he doesn't feel well and heads home alone. For a superstitious kid, Rodney is pretty fearless. He trick-or-treats at a fortuneteller, walks through a haunted house attraction, and then walks home ALONE DOWN A DARK AND DESERTED ALLEY. The fortuneteller's prediction is heavy on Rodney's mind, and he sort of just shuts down and sits paralyzed in this spooky, desolate alley all alone, awaiting the stroke of midnight.
As the bells toll 12am, a figure emerges from the fog. It's Rodney's father, who has been out looking for him for hours. The two have a touching, father-son talk about how most of what we are afraid of is just something we create ourselves in our own minds. Rodney shares how his obsessions didn't seem like a big deal at first, but they continued to worsen until he felt like he had no choice, no control over them.
I'm not sure how seriously issues like OCD were taken in 1978, but this was a pretty profound dialogue. Rodney is describing what could be the makings of a serious mental health crisis, but luckily for him, and the sake of a happy ending, his dad's words are enough to snap him out of it. The next morning, Rodney is once again in the bathroom with his sister screeching at him, but he's not tying his shoes. Nor will he untie and tie them a second time after breakfast. No, he's just brushing his teeth....knock on wood.
Overall, I enjoyed this Halloween special! Apparently, it was shown on Nickelodeon in 1984, but after that, was largely forgotten about until it was uploaded to YouTube by Erik Champney. The Halloween imagery was fun and nostalgic, and I think the film really captured the spirit of trick-or-treating and doing spooky things with your buddies, even when you're scared. The acting wasn't great, though and Rodney's family were all just insufferable characters. It's no wonder that kid was messed up so bad. He was desperately trying to control some aspect of his life.
But, I'm glad it ended on a happy note, and Who Spooked Rodney will definitely be added to my playlist of Halloween favorites. You can watch it too at the links below:
