The world of R.L. Stine is finally arrived on the big screen. Goosebumps is based on the mega-best-selling author of VERY popular horror-but-you-know-for-kids books. Stine’s books were some of the most popular of the 90’s. The film follows Zach Cooper, a student who has just moved to Madison, Delaware. He soon learns that his next-door neighbor has a strange father who will not let his daughter leave his house. One night, Hannah leaves the house and goes missing. In search of Hannah, Zach and his friend search her house and find a shelf full of Goosebumps novels. But what he doesn’t know, is that the books are magical R.L Stine is Hannah’s father. By opening one of the books they actually release the fictional monsters into the real world. Slappy the Dummy from the novel Night of the Dummy becomes the headmaster for releasing all of the other monsters from the Goosebumps. The film actually is pretty enjoyable for being a family film about fictional monsters. Comic whirlwind Jack Black ramps up his manic energy to give a full force 10 in this fast-paced fantasy adventure based on the series of children’s books by RL Stine. Director Rob Letterman, (director of Monsters vs. Aliens and Shark Tale) tells a story of wicked delight, packed full of spooks and scares that should even have adults jumping out of their seats almost as often as little ones. Darren Lemke’s lean script barely pauses for breath between all of the eye-popping set pieces, but still finds time to flesh out a cheesy compelling teenage love story that remains the right side of sickly sweet. The digital effects are impressive, seamlessly integrated with live action scenes of large-scale destruction by the monsters, including a runaway Ferris wheel and a town under attack from a giant praying mantis. I am not a huge fan of Jack Black, but here he plays a very spooky and goofy R.L Stine very well. Goosebumps is known for child friendly horror, similar to films like “Paranorman” and the old Nickelodeon series “Are you afraid of the dark?” The real star of Goosebumps is Jack Black himself. In addition to playing R.L Stine, he also voices Slappy the Dummy and the Invisible Boy. Without Black in this film, it would just be just another children’s film based of a book series with no depth or comedy. Goosebumps premiered on October 16th and grossed $79,968,628 domestically. The film was Sony Pictures third highest grossing film of the year, only below Hotel Transylvania 2 and the James Bond film Spectre. Goosebumps earned at 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 6.4 on IMDB. Where I don’t think I was the target audience that the film was intended for, I still had a good time with Goosebumps. This film will definitely appeal to ex-teenagers of the 90’s who can remember the books. I would say if you are a previous fan of R.L Stine’s 90’s spooky stories, then you should have a fun time with this film. Goosebumps is currently the #1 film on DVD and BluRay, Check it out if you can!

3 out of 5 Stars