R.L Stine's books have been extremely popular in the last twenty years, selling hundreds of millions of copies. It's definitely gained a place in the pop culture psyche. The books served as a sort of kids equivalent to Stephen King, doling out scares that were scary enough, yet not deeply disturbing. Surprisingly, this is the first time a theatrical film has been made from the books, though there have been numerous TV shows based on them over time. This Goosebumps movie is not an adaption of any particular R.L Stine story, though most of the monsters in it will be recognized by fans of the books.
The plot follows a similar structure to any typical goosebumps. Zach (Dylan Minnette), a typical teenage boy, moves into a new neighbourhood where nothing seems to happen. He soon meets a couple new friends, geeky Champ (Ryan Lee), and the mysterious Hannah (Odeya Rush). Hannah's father is the enigmatic R.L Stine himself (a comically over the top performance by Jack Black). Mr. Stine is a misanthrope, who hides away in his house with original manuscripts of his books. When Zach accidentally opens one, the fearsome creatures from Goosebumps literally jump off the page and terrorize the town.
It's standard fare, not particularly original, but it works well enough. The monsters swarming reminded me of the finale of Cabin In The Woods, though Cabin pulled it off much more effectively.
Though most kids will enjoy the adventure elements, and laugh at all the right places, anyone older will be disappointed.
Goosebumps is not a horror-comedy. There's elements of horror, and an overabundance of comedy, but they never seamlessly meld.
I wanted more black comedy and less predictable quips.
The humour is very very predictable. The music will stop and then: (insert joke), then the payoff. This is all very well if it happens once or twice, but this type of lowbrow comedy gets old very fast.
That's not say the Goosebumps movie is entirely without merit. There's many clever aspects, I chuckled quite a few times. Some of the visuals look cool (some don't).
The musical score by Danny Elfman (who else) is pretty generic, but helps keep things moving.
What else? The villain is a bit wooden. (ha ha) And there's a clever cameo by R.L Stine.
Kids will love this movie.
The plot follows a similar structure to any typical goosebumps. Zach (Dylan Minnette), a typical teenage boy, moves into a new neighbourhood where nothing seems to happen. He soon meets a couple new friends, geeky Champ (Ryan Lee), and the mysterious Hannah (Odeya Rush). Hannah's father is the enigmatic R.L Stine himself (a comically over the top performance by Jack Black). Mr. Stine is a misanthrope, who hides away in his house with original manuscripts of his books. When Zach accidentally opens one, the fearsome creatures from Goosebumps literally jump off the page and terrorize the town.
It's standard fare, not particularly original, but it works well enough. The monsters swarming reminded me of the finale of Cabin In The Woods, though Cabin pulled it off much more effectively.
Though most kids will enjoy the adventure elements, and laugh at all the right places, anyone older will be disappointed.
Goosebumps is not a horror-comedy. There's elements of horror, and an overabundance of comedy, but they never seamlessly meld.
I wanted more black comedy and less predictable quips.
The humour is very very predictable. The music will stop and then: (insert joke), then the payoff. This is all very well if it happens once or twice, but this type of lowbrow comedy gets old very fast.
That's not say the Goosebumps movie is entirely without merit. There's many clever aspects, I chuckled quite a few times. Some of the visuals look cool (some don't).
The musical score by Danny Elfman (who else) is pretty generic, but helps keep things moving.
What else? The villain is a bit wooden. (ha ha) And there's a clever cameo by R.L Stine.
Kids will love this movie.