Goosebumps
were not my bag. By the time they came
out, I was already reading Stephen King, so I had no interest in them
whatsoever. I only saw the first movie
because my daughter wanted to see it and while she enjoyed it immensely, I was
not so amused. I’m happy to report that Goosebumps
2: Haunted Halloween is a considerable
improvement in just about every way. Not
only that, it’s a lot of fun for grown-ups too.
A
couple of kids find Slappy the evil ventriloquist dummy in a creepy abandoned
house. When it comes to life, they think
it’s cool because it helps them fight off a nasty bully. When Slappy tries to become a permanent member
of their family, the kids dump his ass in a river. This makes Slappy angry and he gets his
revenge by bringing all the Halloween decorations in town to life.
Since
I was not a fan of the original, I went into Goosebumps 2 with absolutely no
expectations. Much to my surprise, it
was fast moving fun with some real laugh-out-loud moments along the way. I can’t even remember cracking a smile
throughout the first one. The fate of
Terry, the slow-witted pumpkin in particular made me laugh a very long time.
It
felt like the first Goosebumps movie was trying to cram all the stories into
one place. This feels more like a one-off.
Because it has a narrower scope, it
handily accomplishes what it sets out to do.
The design work on the creatures is impressive and there are a few
moments that may be intense for young ones, something which couldn’t be said
for its predecessor. Speaking of young
ones, my daughter was on the edge of her seat the whole time and was cackling
throughout the entire movie.
Although not quite up
to the standards of The House with a Clock in its Walls, this is still my
second favorite Jack Black kid’s horror movie of 2018. Sure, he isn’t given a whole lot to do, which
may be disappointing for some, but I felt the younger actors were strong enough
to sustain your interest without relying on Black’s constant mugging. He is around just long enough to set up
another sequel though (not to mention take a funny jab at It).
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