The Ren & Stimpy Show (TV Series) Mad Dog Höek/Haunted House (1992) User Reviews

Not scary, but hilarious for a Halloween night!

[nataliabatsko · 7/10 · 24 November 2022]

Halloween is definitely a spooky time for everyone, but also the one made for various tricks. And a lot of cartoons wanted to jump on a band wagon with one of the most celebrated holidays in America. Ren and Stimpy is no exception. And today's review is all about going to a haunted house and finding a ghost.

The premise is generic, like, the titular characters decided to get rest in one house, that is abandoned. But they are certainly not alone, there's also a ghost, who wants to scare the unwanted visitors. But then again, since we are dealing with a Nickelodeon 90s show, and these shows are known for spicing things up with some jokes and wacky moments. Probably the best scene has to be a reference to a horror classic "Psycho", where Stimpy was taking a bath and the ghost tried to scare the cat, but he actually uses the ghost as a towel. I love the fact that the show doesn't shy away from mentioning more adult films, and turns it into funny situations.

The gross-out and spooky scenes were well done as well. I laughed so hard when the characters didn't even notice the ghost or treated him as a trick-or-treater. The animation was spot-on. It captures the atmosphere well. And without any spoilers, the ending is surprising! Because it had an interesting twist with afterlife.

Definitely a funny and creative episode. Worth a watch, especially on a Halloween night and for Nicktoons fans. Not to mention that as a fan of the show, it had a lot of good elements that cheered me up.

"We are generals, you are the enemy!!!"

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 10/10 · 15 December 2017]

This happens to be one of the first episodes I ever saw of this show and it's one of my favourites, I think both segments are superb in entirely different ways and to me it's really one of those episodes that when you watch it, you just get what it was that made Ren and Stimpy so great and special in those first couple of seasons, before things started to get a little too hazy and out there! Compared to some of the really random escapades in the series, Haunted House and Mad Dog Hoek are some of the more linear and relatively normal adventures the duo ever embark on - Ren and Stimpy are spending the night in a classic haunted house where they unwittingly thwart a lethargic ghost's every attempt to scare them, and Ren and Stimpy are wrestlers in a rigged match against two hulking behemoths who don't skimp on the pain! When I saw Haunted House on UK tv years ago it included the Bloody Head Fairy scene, a scene that is apparently cut out of some versions, which is too bad because it's the most surreal and probably funniest part of that story. The meek hopeless ghost brings a lot of fun visual gags, with the sandwich making and bath towel scenes being really funny highlights. When the suicidal ghost kills itself(!) and is unexpectedly resurrected as a chilled out happy black dude, it was probably a lot more 'outrageous' back in 1992, but now it's just...whatever, it's a cool twist! Mad Dog is still such a blast, I love the way that Stimpy, after being tagged by Ren, thinks it's all just pretend and gets right into the spirit, excruciating pain and all! And in the final scene which comes out of nowhere and is surprisingly intense, Stimpy really gets carried away with all the excitement and goes way overboard with his 'trash talking' and screams so much that his tongue flies right off! One of the best moments is the toe boil bite which is so gross and hilarious! The music theme which plays throughout most of the action is actually a charmingly quirky ditty from way back in 1937 called "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott. It goes so incredibly well with the action though that I always assumed it was music that was original to this episode! Still entertaining and funny, it's a great little show and for me is a sure-fire 10 Flying Butt-Pliers out of 10!! X