Review #263: Goosebumps (2015)

This review was originally written in October 2023.

Gabe's Horror Movie October Review #17 - Goosebumps (2015)

Ermahgerd! Gersberms!

In case it wasn't obvious, Goosebumps is a film adaptation of the wildly popular series of children's books of the same name. The plot follows Zach, a teenager who just moved into a small town, when he begins to suspect the next-door neighbor of hurting (or possibly killing) his daughter. After sneaking into the neighbor's house, Zach learns that the neighbor is none other than famed horror writer R.L. Stine, creator of the Goosebumps series- but the series turns out to be more than simply fiction, and all of the monsters from the various books start coming into the real world.

First things first, I'm not going to be super harsh on this film because it's clearly meant to be (more or less) a children's movie, so I'll give it a pass for being more action- and comedy-oriented than strictly horror. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that the first half hour was pretty lackluster- quite a bit of time is spent before it's revealed that something is weird about the neighbor, and even then it takes several more minutes before the whole "monsters come out of Goosebumps books" premise comes front-and-center. Once that happened I was hooked, but I wish it could have gotten to that point a bit faster instead of just having a third of the movie be about this uninteresting kid and his trouble adjusting to a new school.

With that out of the way, though, this movie was a lot of fun. It's a treasure trove of easter eggs and references for anyone who's familiar with the book series (and even the fact that the main character is a new kid in town is 100% spot-on for the majority of the stories), so I'd bet there's a ton of fun to be had rewatching this movie time and again. The characters are all fun, and it goes without saying that Jack Black knocks it out of the park. This was clearly made by people that truly love the source material, and wanted to make a faithful adaptation of the series as a whole.

On the topic of adaptation, though, the plot for this movie was quite ambitious for a single movie. I really wonder what it could have been like if this was instead a 6- or 8-part Netflix series, with the room to stretch out and really explore the world it's created, instead of just having one big giant scene where all of the monsters are seen for a second and then whisked away. I also wonder what it could have been like if it wasn't relegated to being rated PG- I think the premise could have been even more amazing if it were a bit darker, but I understand that much of the appeal comes from the Goosebumps source material and Goosebumps is, well, intended for young children. I guess all I'm saying is if Mike Flanagan made a series about a writer whose characters came to life, I'd watch it.

Anyway, this movie was delightful and I have only just now realized there's both a sequel, and a revival series on Disney+. I just might need to resubscribe....

Overall Rating: 8/10 Floating Poodles

Favorite Easter Egg: In the final scene, Jack Black (the actor playing RL Stine, a writer) passes by and greets RL Stine (the writer, playing the theater teacher "Mr. Black") in the school hallway.