Goosebumps (2015)
Starring Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Ryan Lee, every ghastly ghoul imaginable
Directed by Rob Letterman
When I was a small child, I would eagerly anticipate getting the Scholastic catalog in school so I could tell my parents which Goosebumps books I needed next. Author R.L. Stine had an impact on shaping my creepy little brain by working his spooky magic. This film adaptation is a perfect representation of that magic in every way, shape, and form.
The story is simple: Zach (Minnette), the new kid in town, finds out that his next-door neighbor (Black) is harboring all sorts of secrets behind closed doors, including his daughter, Hannah (Rush). Fearing the worst for the young lass, Zach and Champ (Lee), his nerdy yet lovable best/only friend, break in and do some snooping where they shouldn’t, thereby helping every creature you could imagine break out of the books in which they were written. And yes… all hell breaks loose with them. You see, Hannah’s dad is actually R.L. Stine, and he’s been keeping the monsters he created locked away. Now that they’re free, well… you just need to see it for yourself.
In a nutshell, that’s all there is to it, and in its simplicity lies an incredibly great amount of scary, yet family-friendly frights.
Jack Black is exceptional as the famed author whose creations end up running amok, and he complements the stellar and memorable performances of the entire cast. Even the bit players in Goosebumps are well drawn (Jillian Bell as Aunt Lorraine was a favorite, along with an endearing Lee), and this lends a lot to the film’s heart, which is bigger than the Abominable Snowman’s. But never is it sappy or, god forbid, dumbed down.
Speaking of creatures like said Yeti, every sinister creation imaginable gets some screen time, from giant mutant praying mantises to tiny laser-shooting robots. There’s no tombstone left unturned in the monster department, and not a single one of them feels thrown in just to be there.
Honestly? I’m hard pressed to find a single thing that I disliked about Goosebumps. It’s smartly written, genuinely funny, and more importantly, all of the creatures play it straight. They are there to scare and, if given the chance, maim. Following in the footsteps of such family-friendly classics like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and The Monster Squad, the big bads of Goosebumps are never the butt of the joke. This is an absolutely essential ingredient in making a horror-comedy work, and few have done it to perfection.
I can tell you without hesitation that Goosebumps is the very definition of the term “instant classic” that can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. Grab your kids, grab your neighbors’ kids… hell, just indulge your inner kid, and head out to the movies. You won’t regret it.
In this day and age when horror feels redundant and stale, Goosebumps is the perfect spooky concoction to remind you why you fell in love with the genre in the first place.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
