But there's plenty for adults and older kids to like in this fantastic journey through a catalog of creatures that surround a house tucked in the woods.

The Grace family, including mom (Mary-Louise Parker), twins Jared and Simon (played by "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's" Freddie Highmore) and sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger), move into a rickety family mansion while recovering from a cheating husband and father who left them (a theme that awkwardly goes in and out of the story).

But Jared, the more adventurous and troublesome of the twins, discovers a book by his great, great uncle Arthur Spiderwick (David Straithairn), a tome that details the magical creatures that live in and around the house.

Though labeled with a note that says "do not read this book," Jared naturally does. The creatures - some good, some bad - begin to appear, looking for the Spiderwick manuscript. Fortunately, the house is surrounded by a force field of magic toadstools that buys Jared and his family time to figure out a way to destroy the book and end the barrage of slimy goblins.

The movie, like the adaptations of "Harry Potter" and "Chronicles of Narnia" that inspired it, is populated by prickly, ooze-dripping computer-generated creatures with a vicious bite. While the computer effects are modest when compared with something like "Lord of the Rings," and the movie lacks the scope of Narnia-esque adventures, "The Spiderwick Chronicles" moves assuredly through its fantasy-literature roots.

Save for a climactic ending with too much computer-generated wizardry, including an inappropriate punctuation to the final battle, this is a fun, fantastical journey full of fairies, enchantment and ravenous monsters.

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* VINCE HORIUCHI can be reached at vince@sltrib.com or 801-257-8607.

'The Spiderwick Chronicles'

* WHERE: Theaters everywhere.

* WHEN: Opens today.

* RATING: PG for scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements.

* RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes.

* BOTTOM LINE: An exciting and frightening fantasy tale of goblins and fairies, too scary for younger kids.