Elizabeth GohMovie Review: Goosebumps
The 90s had its own special brand of scary: There were the unblinkingly creepy-cute Furbies, Silly Putty so nasty we had to snip it out of our hair, and probably the best of all – R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series. The set of more than 60 titles were so popular globally that they sold more than 350 million copies, and inspired a television series that aired between 1995 and 1998 in its first run.
These fictional children’s horror books introduced us to the best monsters to read about while growing up – scary enough to make us check under our beds every night, but funny enough that we could still fall sleep. After all, it’s hard to be truly terrified of a werewolf wearing gym shorts.
But take all of these freaks and unleash them on an unsuspecting town, that sounds like an idea for the mother of all Goosebumps books, and guess what, that’s what your movie ticket just bought you.
What kicks this off is teenager Zach (Dylan Minnette) moving to the fictional town of Madison, Delaware and trying to befriend his new attractive neighbor Hannah (Odeya Rush), much to the chagrin of her grumpy father (Jack Black). It’s not just the usual over-protective paternal rebuff, however. Hannah’s dad, practically a recluse, is serious about banning Zach from talking to Hannah, which makes this forbidden fruit all the more alluring.
You can’t blame dad, who turns out to be famous author R.L. Stine, because opening any of his original Goosebumps manuscripts frees the trapped creepy creatures, bringing them to life. Which, of course, is exactly what Zach and his new schoolmate Champ (Ryan Lee) end up doing. You can think of the plot as a sort of a mashup between Night at The Museum, Jumanji and Ghostbusters. The rest of the movie is all about recapturing the monsters within the covers of their original manuscripts before these are torched.
It’s hard, at first, to understand why Jack Black, arguably one of the funniest men on this planet with his comedic turns as School of Rock’s Dewey Finn, and the voice of Kung Fu Panda’s clumsy, absent-minded unlikely hero Po, would be cast as the crotchety, high-strung bestselling writer. Thankfully, faith in his acting chops is justified as Black was able to portray many different facets of Stine, from speaking about his dark past, to his short temper when he’s compared to another bestselling horror novelist Stephen King, and his fatherly love for Hannah that humanized his character. Massive props to Black for reminding us of the talented late Robin Williams, for convincingly portraying the depth of a serious, troubled character as well as voicing multiple characters.
UrbanWire is, of course, referring to the various monsters in the film who are Goosebumps’ major selling point from the time they were book characters. Suitable homage is paid to Stine’s most well-known creation, a puppet named Slappy the Dummy (voiced by the talented Black) from Night of the Living Dummy, by casting him as the main antagonist. Some other fun nasties that made an appearance were the werewolf in gym shorts from The Werewolf of Fever Swamp and the Invisible Boy from Let’s Get Invisible (also voiced by Black).
According to ComingSoon.net, a news and media website, Rob Letterman, who directed Monsters vs Aliens and Gulliver’s Travels, which also starred Black) felt that whatever monsters could be filmed should be filmed, as that constituted the best kind of visual effects. So costumed creatures were used as much as possible, like a group of aliens who were human from the neck down, with CGI heads. Larger and more unwieldy monstrosities like the giant praying mantis were rendered entirely with CGI.
After years of attempting to move Goosebumps to the big screen, back from 1998 when its first attempted film adaptation didn’t come to fruition, this film certainly did the books justice. It flowed smoothly with just the right amount of pacing and little preamble, and was a sentimental ride from start to finish. All the most beloved monsters were accounted for, and the chemistry between each of the previously standalone characters was believable. Goosebumps doesn’t simply bank on nostalgia to carry it through; it has just the right amount of humor, spirit and indulgence for it to stand on its own. Even Stine himself liked it – he had a little cameo in the film as Mr Black, a high school teacher who bumps into Black’s portrayal of himself.
Stine in reality, meets Stine in the film. Jack Black, meet Mr Black. Serious or not, both men will likely be laughing their way to the bank.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Information
Release Date: 29 October 2015
Runtime: 103 minutes
Language: English
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Director: Rob Letterman
Cast: Jack Black, Amy Ryan, Odeya Rush, Dylan Minnette, Ryan Lee