Ed's Review Dot Com

The Hallmark Channel,

Erin Krakow, Pascale Hutton, Jack Wagner, Kavan Smith, Martin Cummins, Carter Ryan Evancic, Aren Buchholz, Eva Bourne, Mary Black, Paul Greene, Loretta Walsh, Daniel Lissing, Lori Loughlin, Hrothgar Mathews, Johannah Newmarch

This Christmas Special (2 hours) is actually the first episode of Season 5 of the Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart, about a small coal mining town in western Canada in the 1910’s. The town has hardships, but very good people who are happy to help one another. This year, the town develops a new holiday tradition instead of the town Christmas tree in the square, they have erected a Christmas Wishing Tree where the townspeople can take an ornament and write their deepest wish on the back, and hang it on the tree. If the ornament disappears, that means someone is going to make the wish come true. School Teacher Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) has one wish, that her husband, a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman can return home from the cold north region to be with her for Christmas. The new town Mayor, Abigail Stanton (Lori Loughlin) has a plan to bring the disgraced former mayor who is in prison, home for the holidays where he can stay in jail overnight, but do community service in the daytime in order to pay back the town for what he stole. All in all, as Christmas comes closer, more and more people get into the spirit to reach out and help someone else so that they can all enjoy the holiday.

When Calls the Heart is a wonderful series with a lot of heart and the goodness of the times a century ago when people were close and really depended on each other. Some weeks ago I reviewed another wonderful Christmas film as a part of the When Calls the Heart series. It is called When Calls the Heart Christmas Movie. [Here is the review for this film.] That was a wonderful film as well, but this one is a lot different. This one has no big disaster or problem facing the town, no pending major crisis, but just a need for everyone to pitch in and help out each other. But as a quality Christmas film, this one stands up every bit as good as the original one. It is a truly special series and a wonderful holiday treat. Be sure to find them both if you can.

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WCTH 5 Productions,

Erin Krakow, Terence Kelly, Jack Wagner, Pascale Hutton, Martin Cummins, Daniel Lissing, Lori Loughlin, Kavan Smith, Andrea Brooks, Carter Ryan Evancic, Eva Bourne, Mark Humphrey, Aren Buchholz, Loretta Walsh, Erica Carroll

A strange peddler comes to the frontier town in this series with the promise of having just what you need. He manages to pull out the exact solution for the problems they are facing. Abigail Stanton (Lori Loughlin) is acting mayor, and is overwhelmed with trying to do the right things. But there is an accident and the train with all the supplies they need for their Christmas plans is unable to get through with will dash everyone’s hope for a great holiday. So the whole town comes together under Abigail’s lead to make their own Christmas out of whatever they have. Everyone opens their pantries and they put together a great celebration. Even Elizabeth who has been dreaming of the Mountie Ball all her life, and has to give up her chance for the good of the town, gets her own special Christmas gift.

When Calls the Heart is a series on The Hallmark Channel. In this Season 3 episode, a two hour Christmas Special was played. It’s a wonderful story, and the pioneer days feel very real. I have only heard bits and snippets about this series, but this really caught my interest. I suspect that the entire series may be well worth watching. But whether or not you are a fan of the series, or if you have never heard of it before, this episode is as good if not better than any of the batch of new Hallmark holiday films which is why I included it in my reviews. If you get a chance to see When Calls the Heart Christmas, please make sure you take the time to watch this. It was a wonderful and very interesting Christmas story.

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Muse Entertainment Enterprises,

Lori Loughlin, Bailee Madison, Dermot Mulroney, Ava Telek, Marcia Bennett, Lisa Berry, Ella Rose Coderre, Arthur Holden,
Christine Lan, Jake Manley, Derek McGrath, Donovan Scott, Paul Stewart, James Thomas

Mackenzie (Lori Loughlin) inherits the Northpole Inn from her Aunt. It’s the place that she spent every childhood Christmas. The Inn is very important to the folks in the town, but Mackenzie is planning on selling it. The local handyman Jack (Dermot Mulroney) is very attached to the Inn and tries to persuade Mackenzie that it would bring a bigger price if they fix it up a little bit as it’s lost a lot of its luster. But with the help of a team of elves led by Clementine (Bailee Madison) she learns to love the place and perhaps she will keep it in the family.

We met Clementine in last years premier of “Northpole” and it was so well received that they brought her back in this year’s “Northpole: Open For Christmas“. Bailee is so charming. It makes sense that they’d bring her back for a follow-up to last year’s film. This is better, I think, than last’s year’s movie. The Inn is a character by itself, and everyone in this film is just so “nice”. It really is a charming story and brings back the memories of small town Christmas magic like many of these holiday films. I think we all wish we could spend our holiday in a place like this. This is certainly one of the highlights of Hallmark for Christmas 2015. This is one you should try to catch for sure, as it’s a charming story full of warmth and heart.

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Vuguru,

Sterling Beaumon, Raleigh Holmes, Lori Loughlin, Paul James, Morgan Bertsch, Steve Crest

The Gates family are moving into their dream house after it comes on the market. But strange things immediately start to happen as the former owner of the house is hiding in the attic. But he’s looking to take back the house and make the Gates children his own, and he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way. This is a very creepy horror thriller loaded with suspense.

There are a whole bunch of movies out there with Crawlspace in the title. The easiest way to find this one is to note that Lori Loughlin is in this one. We remember Lori from her role as Uncle Jesse’s wife in Full House, and she if a familiar face, but she doesn’t seem to be totally into this film. Her performance is pretty flat and her expression pretty much stays the same throughout. Dad isn’t much better. This has a Lifetime feel to it, and I almost was convinced that it was a made for TV film, except that I can’t find any indication that it was. So don’t expect excellent Hollywood style film work here, but I must admit I found myself drawn into this story. I don’t know what it is, perhaps the fact that I have raised a family and been a homeowner most of my life. I can see how this kind of thing can happen. Whatever the reason, I did find myself invested in the story, and this is a good thing. If you happen to catch this one, I think it’s well worth turning it on and watching it just for the intensity of the story.

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