Goosebumps

I rented this movie to show my students, and it was a success. I, who have never read a Goosebumps novel (they came along too late for me, but I think if I were the right age I would have snapped them up) found it to be a fairly enjoyable foray into the horror field, without gore and fun for families.

The conceit of the film, directed by Rob Letterman, is that Goosebumps author R.L. Stine has hidden away in suburban Delaware. Played by Jack Black, he is a recluse, but his teenage daughter (Odeya Rush) befriends the new neighbor boy (Dylan Minnette). But Minnette, thinking Rush is in trouble, goes into the house and finds a bunch of books locked up. When he opens one, he finds that it releases a monster.

The idea of characters trapped in books is not a new one, and Goosebumps is kind of like an extended Twilight Zone for kids. I take it that the titles are actual Goosebumps books--I'm pretty sure that the ventriloquist's dummy that escapes and orchestrates a mass exodus of monsters is an actual Stine character. The idea that a town could be over run by fictional monsters is a pretty good one, ranging from scads of garden gnomes to a giant praying mantis. When that monster appears, Black says, "I don't remember writing about a giant praying mantis," and then, one beat later, "Oh, now I remember."

In a lot of ways this is the perfect movie for a kid from about eight to thirteen who loves monsters, as many kids that age do (I certainly did). Black is a very charismatic performer, and the script follows the Stine dictum--always have twists. One involving Rush's origin took me by surprise. I do wonder how an abandoned amusement park in the middle of a forest could still have its electricity on, though.