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    Goosebumps

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    I know what I’m talking about when it comes to “Goosebumps”. Not only did I grow up with the books and the show, I have distinct memories of doing so. The first time I ever realized that someone could be a bad actor was when I saw a TV adaptation of “A Night in Terror Tower” with R. L. Stine as the host of the 2-part episode. I’d go so far as to call myself a connoisseur as I went back and read a dozen or so books in preparation for the release of the movie. All I knew is that those “horror” icons were coming back and I was going to be ready. Coming out of the theatre, I wouldn’t call it great… but the way it captures the spirit of those Scholastic Books is dead-on and overall, it’s enjoyable.

    Zach (Dylan Minnette) and his mother Gale (Amy Ryan) have just moved into a new home. He quickly makes friends with his neighbor Hannah (Odeya Rush) but her father (Jack Black) is a strange man. When Zach and his awkward friend Champ (Ryan Lee) go snooping around in Hannah’s house they accidentally unleash R. L. Stine’s creations, the real “Goosebumps” monsters, into our world.

    You have essentially the setup for dozens of “Goosebumps” books right here. A kid moves into a new home or finds himself in an unfamiliar place. He makes friends so that we can have characters of both genders for the avid readers/viewers to follow and the clues are set up to what kind of spine-tingling tale is about to follow. We even a slightly annoying character thrown in but instead of being the antagonist, here it’s an ally for our hero. There’s going to be a couple of false alarms where our hero tries to contact the authorities that something is wrong, but he either misunderstood something normal or the oddball in question has an excuse for why things are that way and the authorities dismiss the warning. With the adults oblivious to what’s really going on, we all know who is the only one to get to the bottom of this mystery.

    That’s what the “Goosebumps” series I grew up with was all about, and that’s what this movie is like. It’s got some moments of tension, but it’s not too scary. There are false scares, but only early on and even then it’s nothing like someone opening a closet that was emanating weird noises… only for them to discover that it was a cat trapped inside. It’s a weird adventure with horror elements that you can bring your kids to, and much preferable to letting them watch episodes of “The Walking Dead”.

    This 2015 film does several things to make “Goosebumps” feel like an actual movie. Firstly there’s a lot more comedy present with Jack Black and Ryan Lee delivering most of the funny material. It doesn’t all work, but for the most part it’s all right. Next the special effects have been cranked up a notch in terms of quality. If you ever saw the episode “You Can’t Scare Me! ” or “Go Eat Worms” you know they could get pretty bad. Here, they’re good. The acting is a lot better than you were used to seeing in the series and finally, this plot is one that feels epic. It’s a monster movie where everyone’s invited (though I didn’t see any “Monster Blood”) I’d like to rent this one on Blu-ray just to pause some of the scenes of monster mayhem and play “spot the book”. Although some monsters get more of a spotlight than others, there’s a lot of stuff that makes this a fun “background movie”.

    I liked the way the plot panned out, with a clear leader to the Goosebumps creatures (also voiced by Jack Black and cleverly so) giving us a sense of increasing danger as the plot moves along. We have a nice variety in the monsters as well. Everything from killer lawn gnomes (which I thought were very well done and quite creepy) to a Giant Deadly Mantis!

    I’ll also admit that even though the humor here is aiming for the pre-teen crowd, there were some genuinely funny moments. It wraps itself up perfectly, once again capturing what I feel is what made those books so addictive to kids. There are some cleverly written bits of dialogue that refer to the books and the audience watching the film that I appreciated. I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel so we can cram in some of the non-monster plots in there, like “The Haunted Mask” or “The Cuckoo Clock of Doom”. It also helps that Jack Black is having a lot of fun in his role and the enthusiasm there is infectious.

    On the negative side, this movie is going to be a blast for children, but I think adults will have a much harder time digesting it if for some reason they see it by themselves. There’s an unnecessary love plot thrown in that I could’ve done without and I found the beginning to be somewhat contrived. I can’t help but think the way our heroes stumble upon the manuscripts that unleash the monsters could have been done in a different way.

    I didn’t know what to think when I saw that a book series was being turned into a movie. I prepared myself for something as bad as “Deep Trouble” (seriously, that has to be one of the worst “Goosebumps” books in the series, it’s not even scary at any point!) I was hopeful though and it turned out to be much better than I thought it would be. I had fun with it, so I’m going to recommend it. I say pass on the 3-D though; they really don’t use that technology much at all. Stick around for the credits, they show off some Tim Jacobus’ wonderful artwork and in all honesty, I think those illustrations are a big part of what drew people into the book series so it’s nice to see a tribute to a great artist. (3-D Theatrical version on the big screen, October 17, 2015)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  21.10.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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