Goosebumps - A Movie Review

You’re telling me that all those monsters came out of the books of R.L. Stine?

Goosebumps escaped from its book into theaters in 2015. Moving into a new town with his mom, Zach suspects that something is up with the next-door neighbor. Discovering that his neighbor is the famous author R.L. Stine, he inadvertently releases dangerous monsters from his manuscripts. It’s only a matter of time to capture them back into their stories.

I have read and seen most of Goosebumps media. At one point, I remember staying up half the night because of how scared I was after viewing one of his stories. Upon going to see the 2015 film when it was first released, I had my doubts. Goosebumps is a fun adventure for all audiences to enjoy.

Jack Black, as always, is spectacular in all his roles. He got most of his inspiration for the role based on Orson Welles’ performances. His charisma and humor as the famous horror author was my favorite performances. Every writer has their quirks. Listen closely, as Black voices another character in the film.

The cast of Goosebumps had a fun time working on this film. As the trio, Dylan Minette, Odeya Rush, and Ryan Lee did a fantastic job in their interactions. Off and on, Minette sometimes was stiff in his deliveries, not reacting to the situation at all. I adored his scenes with Rush.

Outside of Black’s performance, Champ was my favorite character in the film. Lee hammed up his scenes. At times it was a little too much. Then again, Lee cemented his humorous personality into the film. One of my favorite traits about Champ is that he likes himself no matter what anybody says. We are all brave.

It’s hard for me to call Goosebumps a character film. Although it has its ensemble of characters, they had very little to do throughout the story. The cops were over the top. But the film got rid of them too fast.

Because the central focus was on the main stars, sometimes it cut to secondary characters reacting to their own horror stories. Jillian Bell was funny in her sequences, but the jokes became overdone as the story went. She was given more to do than Ryan who had a more significant role.

There wasn’t much for the ensemble to do aside from being stereotypical teenagers at a school dance. Gale (Amy Ryan) should have been involved in the story more. The mother-son rift just magically resolves itself without any interactions.

Goosebumps incorporates every monster from the iconic horror series. The special effects are fantastic. I’m impressed with how realistic the monsters look. During filming, the real R.L. Stine came to the set to make his own creative suggestions on the film. Thankfully, all the characters across countless books were included.

The film spent two decades in the works to make it on the big screen. Rob Letterman did a great job dictating his actors, particularly in all the monster action sequences. He could have decreased focus on all the jokes and gags which took away from it all.

More focus should have been attained on the scare factor which is what the series is all about. There is not enough tension or build-up to the terrors.

Young audiences should use caution for viewing Goosebumps. Most of the monsters, and Slappuy the talking dummy are creepy. Goosebumps is entertaining. I find myself watching it whenever the airings are on TV.

Put Goosebumps on your list of movies to see this October. It incorporates recognizable monsters from all the books.