Overview
A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R.L. Stine after the writer's imaginary demons are set free on the town of Madison, Delaware.
R.L. Stine has been an extremely productive kids’ horror writer – over his lifetime he has so far written hundreds of books and short stories, earning him the nickname of ‘Stephen King of children’s literature’. To call his writing ‘literature’ may be somehat generous, but his books have sold over 400 million copies, so he is certainly a popular novelist.
This movie takes one of his book series (there are currently 182 Goosebumps books) and makes a merry mash-up of it all. Jack Black plays RL Stine as a recluse, living in a small town in Delaware. When new neighbours move in, teenage Zach (Dylan Minette) can’t help himself and finds himself sneaking into Stine’s house one night. When he accidentally drops one of Stine’s Goosebump manuscripts on the floor, it unleashes the monster inside…
There are elements reminiscent of classic kids’ movies like Jumanji, The Neverending Story and Gremlins amongst others, but Goosebumps is no competition for these unfortunately. The story is just a bit too shallow, even though there are certainly various elements that if pursued a bit more, combined with a somewhat less frantic pacing, could have given the movie that extra layer of interest. That is not to say the movie isn’t any good – it is a fun watch for younger kids who’ll enjoy the monster-fest the movie turns into, with enough family-friendly scares, humour and even a bit of heart to keep everyone entertained.
Not in any way recommended for adults, but a fun flick to watch with the kids (aged ~8-13).
6/10