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'Goosebumps' A fun twist on the iconic teen horror novels
Sony Pictures EntertainmenDirector Rob Letterman has released a mise-en-abyme version of the popular 1990s teen horror novels Goosebumps, making a feature film that is hair-raisingly fascinating â but wonât leave you peeking under the bed before you go to sleep
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Sony Pictures Entertainmen
Director Rob Letterman has released a mise-en-abyme version of the popular 1990s teen horror novels Goosebumps, making a feature film that is hair-raisingly fascinating ' but won't leave you peeking under the bed before you go to sleep.
Letterman, screenwriter Darren Lemke and scenarists Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski rose to the occasion to present the world of author RL Stine on the screen, bringing a mildly scary, entertaining movie fit for the whole family.
The story begins with educator mom Gale (Amy Ryan) moving with her teenage son Zachary 'Zach' Cooper (Dylan Minnette) to the small town of Madison, US, where she has been appointed vice principal of a local high school.
The discontented Zach, who has problems adapting to what he calls 'the dullest place in the whole world', finds the town brighter after meeting girl-next-door Hannah (Odeya Rush) ' the daughter of the enigmatic Mr. Shivers (Jack Black).
The tetchy, antisocial Mr. Shivers overprotects his daughter, insisting on home-schooling her and warning Zach to stay away from their house ' until one night Zach witnesses a fight between Hannah and her dad.
Zach makes fast friends with school nerd Champ (Ryan Lee), who agrees to help him break into the Shivers' house, where the intrepid duo realize that Shivers is actually the famous author RL Stine ' and discover at the same time the secret to his success.
It turns out that these works of monster fiction are of such high quality because the monsters are, in fact, not fictional, but existent beings caged in Stine's original manuscripts typed on an old, magical Smith Corona typewriter.
Accidentally, Zach and Champ release from the manuscripts a horde of nightmare creatures ' the abominable snowman, a giant praying mantis, tiny tin robots, gnomes, aliens, a werewolf and a vengeful ventriloquist's dummy named Slappy (voiced by Black).
Slappy the Dummy becomes the leader of the monstrous army, which sets out to punish their creator for keeping them locked inside the manuscripts while enjoying fame and fortune for himself.
The now-free monsters attack the school and wreak havoc in town, while Stine, Zach, Champ and Hannah race against time to put them all back in ' though Zach, for certain reasons, is less keen to do so than the others.
Goosebumps is a third collaboration between Letterman and Black after animation Shark Tale and live action Gulliver's Travels that, once again, shows Black's ability to underpin an entire film.
It should be noted that the RL Stine of the film is only very loosely adapted from the man himself, who, as seen in a cameo, is in fact very likeable.
The use of Black's voice as Slappy, the doppelganger of Stine that embodies his loneliness and frustration, gives a sincere and convincing representation of Stine's emotions.
The cast brings gallons of personality to the story, although the character of Gale and her zany sister Lorraine (Jillian Bell) feel underwritten.
Now playing at local cinemas, fans of the Goosebumps novels will enjoy seeing every single monster ' well, 25 of them including the scariest of 'em all, flesh-eating King Jellyjam ' spring to life.
The 103-minute film is a child-friendly horror fit for the Halloween season that will surely provide a chance for optimum reminiscence for those old enough to have read the novels in their 90s heyday ' although the film itself is targeted at a Millennial audience.
And as Black's Stine character says at the end of the film, every good story consists of a beginning, a middle and a twist; and who knows, Goosebumps might even make the screen-obsessed younger generations read the actual books.
